Bhubaneswar: Good news for rail commuters of Bhubaneswar and Bhadrak, the East Coast Railways (ECoR) has given in-principle approval for construction of one more Foot Over Bridge (FOB) at these railway stations.

Keeping in mind overcrowding in the existing FOBs at these stations during rush hours, ECoR General Manager Umesh Singh has given in-principle nod for one more FOB at Bhubaneswar railway station in addition to the existing two FOBs and for another FOB at Bhadrak in addition to the one already existing, said an ECoR release issued today.

Singh’s in-principle nod for the FOBs at these stations came after Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday gave full powers to all Zonal General Managers of Railways to take decisions on all projects connected with passenger safety, the release added.

The release says that these FOBs are likely to be approved within a week and will be completed in 2018.

Each of these FOBs will cost over Rs 7 crore each according to preliminary estimates, it added.

The new FOB at Bhubaneswar railway station will have a span width of six metres and will connect platform no.1 with platform no.6, the release states while adding that the FOB at Bhadrak railway station will also have a similar span width.

The decision for construction of these FOBs was taken during a review on safety issues by Singh on Wednesday.

Notably, around 200 trains pass through the Bhubaneswar railway station and approximately 80,000 passengers use it daily.