In order to meet the rush of passengers during this festive season, the South Eastern Railway ( SER) has introduced a special train between Howrah-Mumbai that will pass via Tatanagar.
Officials at the South Eastern Railway headquarters at Garden Reach in Kolkata said that the train would ply weekly. The train will ply for a month. The train is well equipped with a second AC coach, three third ACs, seven sleeper coaches , four general and two parcel vans.
The train will leave CSTM on Tuesday afternoon at 1.20 pm. It will reach Tatanagar railway station the next day ( Wednesday) at 2.15 pm. After a five minutes halt the train will leave for its onward journey.
On its return journey the train will leave Howrah on Thursday evening at 6.30 pm. The train will reach Tatanagar at 10 pm. After a 10-minutes stoppage the train will leave for onward journey.
Meanwhile, the computerised reservation centre at Tatanagar is witnessing a huge rush of passengers with waiting list crossing the 100 mark for most long-distance mail and express trains headed towards New Delhi, Mumbai , Patna and other destinations. The officials at the ticket reservation counter here said that in almost all the long distance trains waiting list has virtually reached the ‘no room’ stage.
SER, Garden Reach, Kolkata issued orders to add additional number of coaches to the trains ferrying from Tatanagar. “From Durga puja to Chhat we expect the passengers rush to maintain the same trend and it is therefore additional arrangements are being made on temporary basis,” said a senior booking official at the Tatanagar ticket booking counter. The decision of SER to introduce coaches has given people a reason to smile. “ Durga Puja is one of the most important festivals of east India. Every year the rush of passengers increases. I think the authorities should make proper arrangements to ensure hassle free travel,” said U K Srivastava, a senior functionary of Chottanagpur Passengers’ Association.