Banka, June 23: The newly inaugurated 73582 Down Jasidih Passenger train has come as a godsend for people like landless agricultural labourer Tuntun Bhagat.

After Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the train at Jasidih in Jharkhand on June 22 from New Delhi via remote control, RJD MP from Banka Jai Prakesh Narayan Yadav along with BJP MLA from Banka Ram Narayan Mandal and other officials flagged off the train from Banka for Jasidih for its regular daily service on Tuesday afternoon.

"Earlier, we had to pay Rs 70-80 per head to go to Deoghar by bus," said Tuntun, who took the train on Thursday with his wife and two children. "The overcrowded bus would pose a major problem for women and children. Now, I bought each ticket for Rs 15 only for my journey to Deoghar, which would take two hours as against more than three hours by bus."

With Banka and Deoghar getting railway connectivity for the first time, many like Tuntun in this area are hoping for a better future.

"The new train is actually an extension of the Andal-Jasidih-Chanan Passenger to Banka," said Mohit Kumar Sinha, divisional railway manager, Malda, of Eastern Railway. "With the opening of the new Banka-Deoghar line, train services could be extended to Bhagalpur from Jasidih via Banka, as already existing between Banka and Bhagalpur."

He hoped that train services would start on the Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat section also.

"With this new Banka-Deoghar link, Shravani Mela pilgrims would have the opportunity to visit Deoghar from Bhagalpur by train," he said.

At the time of flag-off, the assembled crowd raised slogans in favour of former Union minister and Independent MP from Banka, the late Digvijay Singh.

"During his stint as Union minister of state for railways, Digvijay sanctioned many railway projects for this backward region, including Jasidih-Bhagalpur via Banka line," said Predeep Kumar Chakravorty, a social worker in Banka.

Singh's widow and former Banka MP Putul Devi said: "His dream project has been finally completed in 16 years."

The new train flagged off from Banka around 12.25pm covered 65km to reach Jasidih around 2.25pm. Kakwara, Chandan, Suia and Kotoria are the main stations between Banka and Jasidih.

"At present, only one pair of train would run but the frequency would be increased gradually, as some direct trains from Jasidih to Bhagalpur are on the cards," said a railways source.

Banka resident Dhrub Kumar, however, blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the railways for delaying the pending Sultanganj-Deoghar railway line via Banka. Sources said the 115km line was started in 2001 in two sections, Banka-Deoghar and Banka-Sultanganj, with 2010 the targeted date of completion. But owing to funds scarcity, the 59km-long Banka-Deoghar project was stopped, said the sources.

Anandi Das, a resident of Amarpur in Banka, said: "The Banka-Sultanganj project would have been very important, particularly for the pilgrims during the month-long Shravani Mela, as well as for pilgrims visiting Deoghar from Sultanganj round the year. Now, train services have started from Banka to Deoghar. So the railways should take the initiative to complete the rest of the Banka-Sultanganj section."