Train services in the Tatanagar-Chakradharpur section of South Eastern Railway went haywire for about four hours on Friday morning following a technical fault in the overhead equipment. The breakdown in the overhead equipment took place near the Rajkharsawan railway station, around 60 km away from here, at about 6 am. Engineers and senior Railway officials of Chakradharpur railway division rushed to the site to rectify the fault.
Serveral trains, including Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express, Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Superfast Express, Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (Dn) and Howrah-bound Geetanjali Express were delayed. The Barbil-bound Janshatabdi Express reached Tatanagar on time around 9.45 am. But, the train had to be detained at the Tatanagar railway station for about one hour. The train left for its onward journey around 10.40 am. Similarly, the Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Superfast Express left Tatanagar railway station about 20 minutes behind its scheduled time.
The Bhubaneshwar-bound Rajdhani Express had to be detained for about an hour between Chakradharpur and Rajkharsawan railway station. The Tata-Gua Passenger which was scheduled to leave Tatanagar at 8.10 am was delayed by about two-and-half hours. The passenger train left Tatanagar at around 10.45 am. Railway sources said engineers, who were rushed to the site, took about four hours to repair the fault and restore normal traffic.
“I had to reach Barbil for a business meet. It was an important engagement but the incident has left me in lurch I don’t know what to do,” said Harendra Singh, a passenger. However after the assurance of the authorities, the passengers somehow were pacified. According to a Railway official, trains on the fast track have been diverted to the slow section both on the Up and Down lines between the two stations.
OP Sharma, the station manager at Tatanagar said that train services were disrupted in the Chakradharpur division due to the breakdown of overhead equipment near Rajkharsawan. Normal traffic was restored after 10 am. 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.