With complete closure of rail traffic between the Dhanbad and Chandrapura sections in Jharkhand from June 15, the Ministry of Railways on Monday said all efforts would be made to minimise passenger inconvenience.
While railways have set up special counters to facilitate refunds as per extant rules for the affected passengers, Member Traffic, Railway Board Mohd Jamshed informed that on an average 11 pairs of Mail/Express and six pairs of passenger trains run on the section daily. Jamshed said while 19 trains have been cancelled routes of seven have been diverted through Gomoh station.
The Railways has decided to stop the operation of goods and passenger traffic on Dhanbad-Chandrapura Railway from Thursday following an advisory from PMO and Coal Ministry pertaining to persisting fire in the Jharia Coal Field which is dangerous. The Railway Board has cancelled 19 trains and diverted routes of seven after a mines fire reached close to tracks in the Dhanbad-Chandrapur segment, making it unsafe for use.
The Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) too recommended for the shut-down of operations. “Acting on subsequent advisory, railways keeping in view the safety of passengers has diverted seven trains, cancelled 13 mail express trains and six passenger trains between the route,” Jamshed at a Press briefing.
The Board has also suspended movement of goods train, including loading of coal at nine sidings, on the 34-km long Dhanbad-Chandrapura segment under the East Central Railway.
According to DGMS reports, 14 km out of 34 km long track are in the area affected by the mines fire. The DGMS had stated in its reports that the land around the coalfield has finally started caving in, and public utility assets, including the age-old railway tracks are no longer safe.
On the other hand the affected railway division has sent a proposal to the Centre for an alternative route project as was already recommended by railways technical wing RITES in 2015. If the Ministry of Railways agress for the same then it would take four to five years to complete the project.
The seven trains which have been diverted are the Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express, Gorakhpur-Ranchi Mourya Express, Dhanbad-Alappuza Alleppey Express, Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunj Express, Patna-Hatia Patliputra Express, Dumka-Ranchi Inter City and Dhanbad-Ranchi Intercity Express.
Some of prime train cancelled includes the Ranchi-Bhagalpur Vananchal Express, Ranchi-Jayanagar Express, Ranchi-Howrah Intercity Express, Dhanbad- Bhubaneswar Garib Rath, Ranchi-Kamakhya Express, Darbhaga-Secundrabad Express, Hyderabad-Raxaul, Bhopal-Howrah Express, Kolkata- Ahmedabad Express, Kolkata Ajmer Express, Surat-Malda Express.