March 30: The much-awaited new railway division at Ranchi would start functioning independently from April 1.

Till now Ranchi was part of the Adra division. “Ranchi division is being carved out by including certain parts of Adra and Chakradharpur divisions. Administrative work has been completed for the separation,” sources said.

About 70 railway officials from the Chakradharpur division have been transferred to the newly-constituted Ranchi railway zone. Railway sources said the officials were transferred after an agreement between the officer on special duty, Ranchi division, S.K. Behra and divisional railway manager of Chakradharpur S.C. Jha.

“The railway officials have been planning to convert Ranchi into a new division for a long time, but till the formation of Jharkhand there was nobody in the state government to strongly advocate for the case,” sources said.

“However, once Jharkhand came into existence the state government is also believed to have taken interest in expediting the process of carving out a new division at Ranchi,” sources said.

The railway department has appointed S.K. Behera as officer on special duty to supervise the creation of the Ranchi division.

“From April 1, Behera, who was posted at Garden Reach, Calcutta, as the chief vigilance officer, railways, will take charge as the new divisional railway manager (DRM) of the Ranchi division,” railway sources said.

Speaking of the division’s priorities, Behera said: “As the first DRM of the new division my priority will be to improve the administration at the division.”

Asked about the long-pending demand of converting Ranchi-Lohardagga line from narrow gauge to broad gauge line, he said: “In fact, the new division has been carved out soon after the creation of Jharkhand to expedite such works. We are not only going to convert the line into broad gauge, but we will also extend the same line up to Tori station to shorten the distance between Ranchi and Delhi.”

Till now Ranchi-Delhi trains used to take circuitous routes either via Muri-Ramgarh-Barkakana or Muri-Bokaro-Gomoh, which make the journey a long and tortuous affair.