M F AHMED
Daltonganj, Nov. 9: A state of confusion prevails around the ferry of the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express train. An official note of the Deputy Director (coaching) of the railway board, Vivek Kumar Sinha, reads that there will be a diversion in route of the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express train. It will run via Lohardaga and Tori on Wednesday and Thursday.
This ferry will be effective from November 11. There is no mention of any stoppage of the train either at Lohardaga and Tori railway stations either on its Up or the Down journey.
Usually, the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express train goes on two ferries- one on Sunday and the other on Thursday.
By this account, on Monday it will be running via Barkakana and this has not been mentioned in the notice.
The confusion is on two counts. First, whether the train will run via only Lohardaga and Tori and not stop at any of these two railway stations. Second, if the train’s traditional route of Barkakana remains for just one day or not.
No railway official in Daltonganj railway station is ready to speak on it. The standard response is to wait and see what the railway zone offices in charge of the stretch between Ranchi and New Delhi decide.
A railway official requesting anonymity said, “The Rajdhani Express train will run via Lohardaga and Tori and this is absolutely meaningless for the passengers of these two places if it doesn’t have any stoppage at these two railway stations.”
Sources said BJP MP Ranchi, Sanjay Seth, was pursuing this issue of Lohardaga and Tori railway stations for the Rajdhani Express train. But now it appears as if his mission has nosedived as no stoppage at any of these two railway stations has been shown by the authorities.
