Jamshedpur: To decongest Kharagpur railway station, five pairs (Up and Dn) of New Delhi-bound trains originating from Bhubaneswar and Puri will run via Hijli, 3km from Kharagpur. Three of these five pairs of trains will pass through Tatanagar.
According to a notification issued on Saturday by Garden Reach, Calcutta, the headquarters of South Eastern Railway (SER), the new route will be followed by 22824 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (via Tatanagar) from April 14 while the down train (22823) will follow the route from April 16.
The new regulation will be implemented for Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Superfast Express (Up 12801, Dn 12302), via Tatanagar, from April 24, while Puri-New Delhi Nandan Kanan Express (Up 12815, Dn 12816), which runs via Adra, will follow the new route from April 25.
As per the railway circular, the Up 22811 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Adra) will not enter Kharagpur from April 15, while the new route will be effective for the Dn 22812 train from April 16.
The fifth pair that will not enter Kharagpur is 12875 Puri-New Delhi Neelachal Express (via Tatanagar) and 12876 New Delhi-Puri Neelachal Express. Both the Up and Dn trains will follow the new railway regulation from August 3.
Confirming the development, chief public relations officer of SER Sanjay Ghosh said the five pairs of trains would not enter Kharagpur and instead have permanent stoppages at Hijli station. "Other stoppages and timings of the trains will remain the same," he said.
Ghosh further said the trains would run via Hijli-Nimpura through Gokulpur/Kalaikunda route bypassing Kharagpur before stopping at Hijli station.
"The decision was taken to decongest Kharagpur station. Currently, 12 trains travel via Hijli and five more pairs will be added," he said.
Passengers who have already booked their tickets in the trains will be provided transportation facility between Hijli and Kharagpur.
The public relations offer also said information about change in routes would be circulated through newspaper advertisements and announcements at railway stations and trains.
Storm hits services
Train services on Gamharia-Tatanagar section of Chakradharpur railway division were affected for around an hour from 5pm after the branch of a tree fell on overhead traction wires near Gamharia station in Seraikela-Kharsawan during a storm on Sunday. Services resumed after the branch was removed.
