Movement of trains on the Howrah-Mumbai line passing through Tatanagar under the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway was badly affected on Wednesday due to heavy rain resulting in Odisha and water logging in railway tracks between Jharsuguda and Ib stations in Bilaspur division.
Train services were suspended in both Up and Down lines of Jharsuguda- Raigarh section of South East Central Railway since late last Tuesday evening and as a result, all up and down trains are getting delayed while some are running on diverted routes.According to railway officials, over half-a-dozen Up trains in the Howrah-Mumbai route have been diverted.
The trains running on the diverted route include Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express, Shalimar-lTT Express, Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express, Howrah-CSTM Mumbai Mail, Howrah-Porbandar Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express.All these trains pass through Tatanagar in the night. Railway officials at Tatanagar said that last night (Tuesday) the Up trains from Howrah reached here ( Tatanagar) on its scheduled time but they were diverted from Jharsuguda.
The Down trains which were scheduled to reach Howrah/ Shalimar on Wednesday, travelling via Tatanagar were running on a diverted route via Raipur-Titlagarh-Jharsuguda. The trains which included lTT-Howrah Jnaneshwari Express, Mumbai-Howrah Geetanjali Express, Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Express, Mumbai-Howrah Mail, Ahmedabad-Howrah Express and lTT-Shalimar Express were running late by more than 10 hours.
Railway authorities at Garden Reach, headquarters of South Eastern Railway said that some of the Up trains which left Howrah on Tuesday were running on diverted route via Jharsuguda-Titlagarh- Raipur and will reach their destinations much beyond the scheduled time “We have no choice but to divert trains. The step was taken keeping in view the safety of passengers. Heavy rains in Odisha have badly affected the traffic,” said a railway spokesperson at Garden Reach.
Railway sources said that a rise in water level of Ib River, flowing below a bridge near the Ib station in Bilaspur division led to the disruption in the train services since Tuesday night. The Bilaspur division falls under the South East Central Railway.Numerous passengers have been facing trouble due to the delay in long-distance trains and the situation is unchanged for the past few days. Trains for other destinations like Mumbai and Kolkata were running late.
The Tatanagar station assumes importance in view because it is located on the Howrah-Mumbai main route. Several important trains travel via Tatanagar, including the high-profile Rajdhani Express and Duronto Express. The station sees a daily traffic of 90 mail, express and passenger trains, besides a footfall of more than 60,000 passengers.