To boost the transportation facilities in the Naxal affected Bastar region, the Union Rail ministry gave approval to run Visakhapatnam-Jagdalpur (Bastar district) express upto Kirandul and also sanctioned a new rail line between Nagpur Road Halt and Manendragadh via Chirmiri. The cost for setting up this railway line will be equally borne by both Centre and state governments. The minister directed the department to complete the first phase of East Rail Corridor project between Kharsia and Dharamjaigarh by September 2018. In addition, he also directed South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) and Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) to jointly draft an integrated project for the proposed 182 km-long Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh)-Barwadih (Jharkhand) rail project and that a new coaching terminals at Raigarh and Dongargadh, said official sources.
