The important stations in this sections are Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Cuttack Junction and Bhubaneswar.

[2] The Kharagpur–Puri line traverses the northern part of the Eastern Coastal Plains crossing such rivers as Subarnarekha, Baitarani, Brahmani and Mahanadi.

The coastal plains lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal are fertile agricultural lands with high density of population.

The line enters the large delta of the 900 km (559 mi)-long Mahanadi, with a series of channels, near Cuttack.

[3][4][5] During the period 1893 to 1896, 1,287 km (800 mi) of East Coast State Railway was built and opened to traffic.

Bengal Nagpur Railway's line to Cuttack was fully opened after completion of the bridge over the Mahanadi in 1901.

[6] The 514 km (319 mi) long northern section of the East Coast State Railway was merged with BNR in 1902.

[8] "Work has been begun by the Bengal–Nagpur Railway on the construction of a line from Kalimati to Gurumaishini hill, from which the iron ore is to be obtained.

[13][14][15] Apart from Dhamra, new ports are coming up at Kirtania at the mouth of the Subarnarekha, Astaranga in Puri district and Chudamani in Bhadrak district[16] The 41 km long newly sanctioned line connecting Digha in West Bengal with Jaleswar on the Kharagpur–Puri line is expected to serve the new port at Kirtania.

[25] Kharagpur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri, on this line, are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.