Fatuha–Tilaiya line

Fatuha–Tilaiya line
Overview
Status	Operational
Termini	Fatuha Tilaiya
Operation
Opened	2003
Owner	Indian Railway
Operator(s)	East Central Railway
Technical
Track gauge	Broad Gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)

The Fatuha–Tilaiya line is a railway line connecting Fatuha on the Howrah-Delhi main line and Tilaiya on the Gaya-Kiul line both in the Indian state of Bihar. The line was earlier known as Fatuha-Islampur line. A small portion of the line from Islampur to Natesar is still to be opened for use.

Futwah-Islampur Light Railway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) wide narrow gauge railway laid by Martin's Light Railways in 1922. Nearly 14 km of the 42 km (26 mi) long Fatuha-Islampur railway line was washed away by floods 1976. As a result, no train plied on the route for many years. In 1982, Martin's Light Railways initiated resumption of train service on this line and took up restoration work. However, in 1984, they decided to close down permanently.

It was nationalised and taken over by Indian Railways in 1986.Nitish Kumar, then the railway minister laid the foundation stone for the new 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) railway line in 1998. This section has about 144 bridges and 36 level crossings. Hilsa will be the crossing station of this single line section. It was inaugurated in 2003 by Nitish Kumar.

The East Central Railway took up the laying of new lines in the 46 km (29 mi) long Rajgir-Hisua-Tilaiya-Nateswar-Islampur sector and as of 2013 the work was in an advanced stage. Construction of the 68 km (42 mi) Tilaiya-sector has also been taken up.

Feasibility studies for the electrification of the Manpur-Tilaiya-Kiul sector and Fatwa-Islampur-Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir sectors were announced in the rail budget for 2010-11.

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