Amidst protests by various political parties against the closure of Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway track, the Railway Board is rushing a high-level committee to the State tomorrow to discuss the feasibility of diverting 18 trains cancelled due to the decision.
According to the Chief Minister's office, the Board's decision has come after Chief Minister Raghubar Das met Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday in New Delhi requesting him to take proper steps towards reviving the Dhanbad-Chandrapura rail line.
As many as 18 mail, express and passenger trains, including Dhanbad-Chandrapura-Muri passenger train, passing through the route, the affordable commuting lifeline for thousands in the area, were cancelled.
Earlier on Thursday, the Minister had directed the Railway Board to further plan ways and means to ease the problem being faced in the movement of passenger and freight traffic in the region. He said that an action plan should be prepared and implemented in an expeditious manner for the benefit of the rail users.
In the light of the direction passed by the Railway Minister, the Railway Board decided that the infrastructure facilities at Gomoh railway station need to be enhanced and upgraded as bulk of traffic will have to be moved via this station.
In addition to that, RITES, an engineering consultancy company specialized in the field of transport infrastructure, has also been asked to undertake the feasibility study for diversion of track of affected portions only and submit a report at the earliest. Thereafter, an appropriate strategy for creating new infrastructure will be prepared and implemented.
Notably, only 14 km out of the 34 km Dhanbad-Chandrapura segment under East Central Railway is affected, due to which the whole of 34 km stretch line has been shut.
According to the Railway Ministry, the Coal Ministry will also be approached for funding of local diversions as well as permanent measures to deal with the traffic problem. The Railways, on the other hand, will also interact with the State Government for early acquisition of land and work will be taken up on priority.
Moreover, Rs 500 crore has already been sanctioned by the ministry for two additional connections (Rail on Rail) from Matari station so as to avoid reversal of trains at Gomoh coming from Dhanbad side thereby making traffic flow further smooth. A decision has already been taken to expedite the construction of this flyover networks at Gomoh. The Railway Administration is also exploring the possibility of running some more passenger carrying trains through short termination and diversion. The issue has grabbed political attention in the State as lakhs of people have been affected by cancellation and diversion of trains. JVM chief Babulal Marandi staged a march from Chandrapura to Dhanbad station on Thursday protesting against the decision. JMM chief Shibu Soren has also written to the Prime Minister's Office for revocation of the decision of closure of the DC line. Following the closure of the Railway line from June 15, the Ministry of Railways has constantly been making efforts to put an alternative arrangement in place. Ranchi DRM SK Agarwal had written to the Board suggesting to short-terminate some trains cutting short distances so people could reach nearest point.
from their destination. "I have made suggestions which are practicable and workable also," said the DRM.