Green light for night trains, finally Utkal Express back on route

Times of India reports

KOLKATA: In the wee hours of Monday, security agencies and the railways will keep their fingers crossed as the 12102 Howrah-LTT Jnaneswari Express passes between the Khemasoli and Sardiha stations in West Midnapore. This will be the first time in 22 months that the train will be passing through this stretch after dark. The last time it tried to do so was on May 28, 2010, when it derailed, claiming the lives of nearly 150 passengers.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the disaster was the result of a sabotage orchestrated by Maoists. After the incident, the railways cancelled the movement of the Jnaneswari Express as well as all other passenger trains in the Kharagpur-Tatanagar and Kharagpur-Adra sections of South Eastern Railway between 10pm and 5am.

With the situation in Jangalmahal showing some semblance of normalcy, security agencies in West Bengal gave their nod to start running trains in the Kharagpur-Adra section in December. On Wednesday, SER finally received clearance to resume night-services along the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section.

"We will normalize the running of those trains that were either diverted or made to stop for the night at stations after leaving Howrah. From Thursday evening, the Howrah-Ranchi Hatia Express (and the Down train) will run along its original route. Ever since May 28, 2010, this train was diverted via Asansol and Dhanbad. The 12834 Howrah-Ahmedabad Express will no longer be stopped at Kharagpur for the night. The 18477 Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express will also run along its original route via Bhadrak-Kharagpur and Tatanagar. The 12802 New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express will no longer be stopped at Tatanagar station for the night," said Soumitra Majumdar, CPRO, SER.

From Friday onward, the 12906 Howrah-Porbandar Express will start at its scheduled time of 10.55pm and the 12810 Howrah-Mumbai Mail will leave Howrah at 1.30am on Saturday. The Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express will also start from Howrah on Saturday at 12.30am. All these trains will run along their original routes through West Midnapore.