Dalli Rajhara–Jagdalpur line

The proposed Dalli Rajhara–Jagdalpur rail line, on paper for almost three decades, once completed, would connect Dalli Rajhara to Jagdalpur, both towns being in Chhattisgarh state in India. It would also connect Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh, to Jagdalpur by rail via Durg. Jagdalpur, which is about 300 km from Raipur, is currently meaningfully connected to it only by road. There is though a roundabout rail route to reach Raipur from Jagdalpur via Koraput and Rayagada in Orissa; it is much longer (622 km compared to 300 km by road) and takes much longer time (about 16 hours as compared to 5–6 hr by road) to be of any utility. In view of this, almost all the transport, in relation to both people and goods, between Raipur and Jagdalpur, happens only by road.

There have been a series of efforts in the past three decades to have meaningful rail connectivity between Jagdalpur and Raipur, but none have succeeded so far. It would be evident from a cursory glance at the railway map of India that east central India, i.e., Jagdalpur and its surrounding areas, has only one railway line i.e. the Kothavalasa–Kirandul line but not any meaningful passenger connectivity through railways and certainly no usable rail connectivity with Raipur.