51 Bihar-bound trains cancelled as Rajendra Pul bridge work disrupts rail services
Indian Railways cancelled 51 trains, diverted 47 and short-terminated or short-originated 11 due to non-interlocking work at Rajendra Pul for a new Ganga bridge near Mokama.
Rail services across Bihar were severely disrupted on Saturday as Indian Railways undertook non-interlocking (NI) work at Rajendra Pul, ahead of commissioning a new rail bridge parallel to the existing Rajendra Bridge over the Ganga near Mokama.
According to East Central Railway (ECR) Chief Public Relations Officer Saraswati Chandra, 51 trains were cancelled, 47 diverted and 11 short-terminated or short-originated because of the scheduled infrastructure work. "These trains have been regulated (cancelled, diverted, short-originated/terminated) due to scheduled railway work at Rajendra Pul," Chandra said.
The new bridge will link the existing rail network at Upper Hathidah Junction, Tal Junction, Rampur Dumra, Dinkar Gram Simaria and Barauni Junction. It has been built alongside the present Rajendra Bridge, a 1.9-km rail-cum-road structure over the Ganga connecting Mokama and Barauni that has been in service since 1959.
Chandra said the existing bridge carries only a single railway line and cannot be doubled because of technical limitations. Indian Railways therefore approved a parallel double-line bridge in the 2015-16 Rail Budget at an estimated cost of Rs 1,491.47 crore.
Among the cancelled services are the Howrah-Mokama Express, Howrah-Jaynagar Express, Raxaul-Howrah Express, Kolkata-Ara Patna Garib Rath, Sealdah-Jaynagar Gangasagar Express, Malda Town-New Delhi Express, Gorakhpur-Asansol Express, Malda Town-Patna Express, Khurda Road-Patna Special, Hatia-Patna Patliputra Express, Jhansi-Kolkata Superfast Express, Tatanagar-Jaynagar Express, Bilaspur-Buxar Superfast Express, Puri-Patna Express and Kolkata-Sitamarhi Express.
The cancellations span origin dates from September 24 to 26 and cover long-distance as well as MEMU and passenger services, including the Mokama-Kiul MEMU, Patna-Kiul MEMU fast passenger and the Ara-Banaras MEMU.
Diversions include the Amritsar-Howrah Mail, Howrah-Rambag Vibhuti Express, Patna-Jasidih Express, Patna-Dumka Express, Delhi-Kamakhya Brahmaputra Mail, Alipurduar-Delhi Mahananda Express, Patna-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express, Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express, Howrah-Kathgodam Bagh Express, Sealdah-Ballia Express, Ara-New Jalpaiguri Capital Express, Kamakhya-Ara Capital Express, Dehradun-Howrah Kumbha Express and Anand Vihar Terminal-Bhagalpur Garib Rath Express.
Several diverted trains will skip their usual stops in the ECR system. The Amritsar-Howrah Mail will be rerouted via BKP-BEHS-SHK-KIUL, skipping Mokama, while the Howrah-Rambag Vibhuti Express will run via KIUL-SHK-BEHS-BKP and miss Mokama and Barh. The Delhi-Kamakhya Brahmaputra Mail will be diverted via DDU-GAYA-KIUL, skipping stops including Dildarnagar, Buxar, Ara, Patna, Patna City and Mokama.
Passengers have been advised to check revised schedules before travelling.