Travel plans off track for 55hrs Route rejig for bridge repair

A report from The Telegraph

Bound for Mumbai? Halt in your tracks.

Train services on the Howrah-Mumbai route will remain affected for the next two days owing to urgent replacement of girders of a bridge between Posaita and Goelkera stations under Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway.

This unprecedented hurdle, which began on Sunday evening and is expected to last 55 hours, is compelling a dozen-odd long-distance trains, including the Howrah-Ahmedabad Express, the Tata-Alleppy Express, the Jnaneswari Express, the Howrah-Hapa Express and the Sambleshwari Express, to run on a diverted route. Most of these superfast trains are plying via Chandil, Muri, Hatia and Rourkela.

“Several trains have been diverted, while a few passenger trains will be cancelled for the next two days. Some others running in the Chakradharpur division will also have to be short-terminated,” said Rajendra Prasad, the station manager-in-charge at Tatanagar.

According to Prasad, the Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express will be short-terminated at Chakradharpur station on November 21 and 22. On its return journey, the train will leave from Chakradharpur instead of Titlagarh.

On the other hand, the Chakradharpur-Rourkela and Tata-Bilaspur Passenger will remain cancelled on Monday and Tuesday. The few trains that will continue on their usual route include Mumbai Mail, Geetanjali Express, Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express, Tata-Patna South Bihar Express and Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express.

The railway authorities said that the “mega block” was happening for the first time in Chakradharpur division and they had taken necessary measures to ensure that passengers were not greatly inconvenienced.

“An additional ticket counter has been opened at Tatanagar. In case trains are delayed by over three hours, passengers can opt for ticket refund. Due to the mega block, most trains will run behind scheduled for the next three days,” a senior official of Chakradharpur railway division said.

Railway officials at the enquiry office said they were having a tough time answering queries of harrowed passengers though the altered routes and names and numbers of short-terminated and cancelled trains were being announced at regular intervals.

“Enquiries for different destinations are pouring in since morning. Another official had to be deputed at the counter to take care of things,” said one of them.

He added that the railway authorities had issued a circular, stating that services on the route would remain affected till 3pm on Tuesday.

Passengers said they had either dropped or shelved their travel plans.

“I was supposed to travel to Titlagarh tomorrow. When I came to buy my ticket at Tatanagar, I was alerted that my train would be short-terminated at Chakradharpur. I was going to Titlagarh for the first time and thought it better not to take chances. I will travel once the train services become normal,” said Amitabh Senapati, a Jamshedpur student activist.

M.V. Rao, a schoolteacher, also dropped his plan to visit Rourkela by train since the Tata-Alleppy Express was diverted. “The train will travel via Chandil and will not touch Rourkela,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar-bound Rajdhani Express was delayed by over 12 hours on Sunday. The train is expected at Tatanagar at 10.30pm instead of 10.30am. Foggy weather has been stated to be the reason behind the delay.