Jamshedpur, June 30: Public stir and detachment of coaches of a goods train spelt double trouble for the railway commuters here today.

The train services remained disrupted for several hours throughout the Chakradharpur division this morning due to a passengers? agitation at the Rourkela railway station seeking better facilities and detachment of wagons of a goods train between Gamharia and Sini. The services could be restored after 1 pm.

The public unrest at Rourkela affected movement of several long distance trains as well as shuttles, including Geetanjali Express, Tata-Alleppey Express, Tata-Bilaspur Passenger and Tata-Nagpur Passenger.

T.K. Bhattacharya, the station manager of Tatanagar railway station, said several passenger trains had to be diverted from its normal route due to the detachment of wagons of the goods train between Gamharia and Sini railway stations.

Down Geetanjali Express and Tata-Alleppy Express reached the Tatanagar railway station about three hours behind the schedule. The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, which was scheduled to arrive here at 3.10 pm, was running five hours behind its scheduled arrival time.

According to sources in the South Eastern Railway, the local people staged the agitation demanding improvement in passenger amenities at the Rourkela railway station as announced by them earlier. The sources said that the local people, led by a political outfit, started gathering at the Rourkela railway station since morning. Carrying banners and placards, they squatted on the railway tracks disrupting train movement since 8 am.

It was only around 1 pm that the agitation was withdrawn following assurance from the railway authorities of Chakradharpur division, who rushed to the site of agitation.