The Tatanagar station that falls on the route along which night trains are banned. (Bhola Prasad)

Jamshedpur, May 17: With Bengal getting a new government, the ban on night trains plying on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar, Kharagpur-Adra and Chakradharpur-Rourkela sections of South Eastern Railway (SER) is likely to be lifted by the end of this month.

Railway authorities hinted that the TMC government in the neighbouring state would make the announcement once the swearing-in was over. The ban on night trains has been extended for over 60 times ever since the Jnaneswari Express tragedy on May 28 last year. It is currently effective till May 19.

A senior railway official at Garden Reach, the headquarters of SER, said the ban was likely to be in place for another week after May 19 following which a decision for restoring normal services would be taken. “We are getting enough indications that the ban on night trains will be lifted soon. The new government is expected to take a decision later this month,” the official added.

Chief public relations officer, SER, Soumitro Majumdar said law and order was a state subject. “Night train services can be resumed only if the governments of Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa ensure adequate security. The governments of Jharkhand and Orissa have already agreed to provide extra cover. The Bengal government is yet to commit anything. But we are optimistic that the ban will be lifted soon,” said Majumdar.

Sources said a security review meeting of the RPF was scheduled in Calcutta at the end of this week. Another meeting of senior railway and RPF authorities will take place in Kharagpur.

The ban, effective from 10pm to 5am, was clamped on passenger trains to foil Maoist attacks after the Jnaneswari tragedy. Goods trains services, however, run unaffected.

The curbs have disrupted the services of over half a dozen fast trains that go via Tatanagar. These include Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express, Howrah-Porbandar Express, Jnaneswari Express, Mumbai-Mail and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express. All these trains have been rescheduled to leave Howrah between 4am and 5.30am while Puri-bound Purushottam Express is made to halt at Tatanagar at night, inconveniencing passengers.