Rourkela Junction railway station has not been included among the 48 stations identified for doubling originating train capacity, nor among the 76 stations selected for the development of passenger holding areas under recent railway infrastructure initiatives.

Located on the Howrah–Mumbai main line under the South Eastern Railway, Rourkela Junction is classified as a non-suburban grade-2 station. It reports annual earnings of between Rs 1 billion and Rs 5 billion and an outward passenger footfall of 10–20 million.

In a statement issued on December 26 last year, the Ministry of Railways said it plans to double originating train capacity in major cities over the next five years by expanding coaching terminals. The initiative aims to address rising passenger demand, ease congestion and improve rail connectivity nationwide.

Under the plan, 48 stations across the country have been identified for capacity augmentation through additional platforms, stabling lines, pit lines and shunting facilities. The proposal also includes the creation of new terminals in and around selected urban centres, development of maintenance infrastructure such as mega coaching complexes, enhancement of sectional capacity through traffic facility works, signalling upgrades and multi-tracking to support higher train operations.

Within the South Eastern Railway zone, stations such as Kolkata, Jamshedpur (Tatanagar) and Ranchi have been included. However, Rourkela, which shares the same NSG-2 classification as Jamshedpur and Ranchi under the Chakradharpur division, has been excluded from the list.

Subrata Patnaik, President of the Rourkela Development Steering Committee, said the city has repeatedly been left out of major railway infrastructure initiatives. He pointed out that the Chakradharpur division is the highest freight revenue generator under South Eastern Railway, with a significant contribution coming from the Rourkela region.

Similarly, in October 2025, the Ministry of Railways approved a plan to develop passenger holding areas at 76 stations nationwide using modular designs. Under South Eastern Railway, Ranchi, Tata and Shalimar stations were selected, while Rourkela again did not feature.

Ramesh Agarwal, a member of the South Eastern Railway Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, alleged that infrastructure priorities are skewed towards West Bengal, as the zonal headquarters is located in Kolkata. He also claimed that the Chakradharpur divisional administration tends to focus more on stations in Jharkhand.