PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Aug 5: Ramesh Agarwal, a 45-year-old trader, who travels to Kolkata twice a week for business is upset so is Aniruddh Chatterjee, an IT professional.
Both of them along with numerous other passengers had to face the ordeal of train delays which is a regular affair these days.
Despite the fact that very few passenger trains are currently operational but often passengers complain of delays.
Sources said the reasons behind this are an increase in goods train traffic and delays in allotting a platform at Tatanagar railway station during the arrival of long-distance passenger trains.
Trains both during daytime and night from Howrah to Tatanagar are often made to halt at Asanboni, Rakhamines, and Salgajhuri for want of signal as the tracks are ‘ occupied’ by goods train.
Similarly, trains coming from New Delhi and Mumbai are also made to halt at the outer signal near Adityapur railway station thus affecting the punctuality of trains at Tatanagar.
Due to this both Up and Dn trains regularly arrive behind schedule at Tatanagar and other railway stations under South Eastern Railway’s Chakradharpur division.
For instance, in the last fortnight, several trains including Howrah- Titlagarh Ispat Superfast Express and Howrah-Hatia Express reached Tatanagar behind its schedule ( average delay of at least 30 minutes ) in both its to and fro journey. The trains run as special trains because of the pandemic.
According to railway records, the trains seem to run on schedule till Kharagpur, maintaining an average speed of 110 to 130 Km per hour through its 251Km journey.
Thereafter, it gets delayed due to heavy traffic of goods train.
But, railway officials refuse to buy this argument.
Tatanagar station director H K Balmuchu claimed the recent delays were due to ongoing track maintenance work on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar and other sections of the Chakradharpur division.
“The ongoing third line project often compels speed restrictions. This, in turn, results in train delays,” he maintained.
He assured frequent commuters that the delays would be addressed.
“The delays are a temporary feature. As soon as the work for the new third line project gets over, the trains will run punctually,” he promised.
Railway insiders said the reasons behind the delay were operational. There are numerous goods trains that ply the region as the focus is to earn more revenue through transportation of freights.
A senior functionary of the Chhotanagpur Passenger Association blamed the railway’s inefficiency.
” The traffic of passenger train is comparatively less as all trains are not running currently because of the pandemic. The railway should, therefore, focus on improving the punctuality performance of trains, ” he added.
