Plying of trains on Dhanbad- Chandrapura route to stop from June 15

Shashank Shekhar

Dhanbad ( Jharkhand) : The Railway board, in a letter dashed off to General Manager of East Central Railways (ECR), Hajipur, D K Gayen, has directed him to stop plying of all trains including Rajdhani, Shatabdi  and several Express trains besides goods trains between Dhanbad and Chandrapura from June 15, 2017.

The Railway Board has issued the directive to ECR, GM, after getting green signal  from Prime minister’s Office (PMO) through its principal secretary Nripendra Mishra in view of risk to lives of thousands of passengrs due to underground fire.

The letter sent by Railway Board, signed by its executive director Anil Kumar Lahoti on June 10, 2017, gives direction for closure of rialway line from Dhanbad to Chadrapura due to raging fire underground and subsidence in Jharia and Rajganj  coalfield from June 15 without fail.

Citing report submitted by Director General Mines Safety (DGMS) on safety of Dhanbad—Chandrapura (DC) railway line of the ECR, sent to Chairman, Railway Board (CRB), besides  Secretary, Coal, says ‘based on the inspection  and study of train Dhanbad – Chandrapura (DC) route it is clear  that  area falling under seven mines namely Bussey, Sendra Bansjora, Katras, Choutidih, New Akashkinare, South Govindpur and Teturia covering a stretch  of 14 km, the stability of ground beneath  Dhanbad—Chndrapura railway track can’t be guaranteed. Therefore in the interest of human lives, the movement of trains on Dhanbad- Chadrapura (DC) railway line is  to be stopped’.

The letter states that having considered  DGMS report, the Railway Board has decided to stop operation of all passenger and goods trains  on DC route from June 15 after issuing notices  and advertisement arranging for diversion routes.

Once plying  of trains are stopped  on present Dhanbad –Chandrapura route, more than one dozen Mail and Express trains including Bhuvaneshwar—New Delhi Rajdhani, Ranchi-Howrah Shatabdi express , Hatia—Patna Patliputra Express, Hatia—Gorakhpur Maurya Express, Ranchi –Dhanbad  Intercity, Dhanbad-Muri train, Bhagalpur –Hatia Vananchal Express, Bhagalpur—Ranchi train,  Dumka –Ranchi Express, Ranchi Assam Kamakhya Express, Darbhanga—Hyderabad Express, Howrah—Bhopal Express, Alleppy Express besides  other goods trains, which passes through the present DC route, will now pass via  Netaji Subhash Gomoh  station.

The copy of letter  sent to GM, ECR, was received by DRM, Dhanbad division, on June 10, after which senior officers from ECR headquarters, Hajipur, rushing to Dhanbad to chalk out strategies  for plying of trains on alternate  route which will not only cost railways more but the passengers might have to pay increased train fare.

Senior divisional commercial manager Ashish Kumar Jha stated that the letter sent by the Railway Board has reached his office and from June 15 plying of all trains on DC route will stop.“ We will implement the order of the Railway Board but till now we have not yet decided the schedule of  trains which will run on alternate route  which will be done within day or two,” stated the DCM.

As per  railway authorities, more than a dozen railway stations including  Kusunda, Sijua, Katras, Angarpathra, Phularitand, Kharkhari, Baansjora, Bhaga, Bhaura,  Loyabad besides  several rail halts  will cease to exist as they fall  in underground fire zone on Dhanbad and Chandrapura route.

It may be mentioned here that  the distance between Dhanbad –Chadrapura rail route  is 34 km on which 58 mail, express and passenger trains move via Dhanbad—Kusunda, Bansuria –Bansjora—Sijua—Angarpathra—Katrasgarh—Tetulia—Sonardih—Tndu—Bodra-Phulwatand-Jamuni—Jaminiatand—Devnagar and Chandrapura. Besides these   38 goods trains also  moves on this route.