The South Eastern Railway (SER) has given its go-ahead for extension of platforms at Adityapur station, 5km from Tatanagar, to make boarding trains easier.

Senior divisional commercial manager, Chakradharpur, Satyam Prakash said the length of platforms 1 and 2 would be increased by 100 metres each.

The existing length of platform 1 is 260 metres and that of platform 2 is 262 metres - both are too small to accommodate trains such as the 19-bogie Tata-Chhapra Express, which is 448 metres long.

"The SER authorities have already sanctioned extension of the existing platforms and a tender to this effect will be floated shortly," Prakash told The Telegraph.

The senior railway official said they were aware of the problems that passengers had been facing at Adityapur station in Seraikela-Kharsawan, but added that the decision was taken only after public demand was corroborated by a feasibility test.

"The railways follow a standard procedure. The feasibility of a project needs to be taken into consideration, apart from other factors, before taking up any work. During survey, it has been found that the length of the existing platforms can be extended by only 100 metres," he said.

Falling on Tata-Chakradharpur section, Adityapur station receives about half-a-dozen Bihar-bound trains every day. But, platform length is inadequate for most trains. Bogies on both ends often remain outside the platforms, causing problems for passengers.

Jan Kalyan Morcha, a local NGO, had filed a PIL in Jharkhand High Court in 2013, seeking extension of the platforms at Adityapur station.

"The high court on August 1 had issued a directive to the Railway Board for extension of the platforms as soon as possible. We think our efforts have yielded results," said Om Prakash of the NGO.