Rajendra Pul NI Work Disrupts Bihar Rail Services; 35 Trains Cancelled

Rail traffic across Bihar was disrupted on Monday as Indian Railways undertook non-interlocking (NI) work at Rajendra Pul to commission a new rail bridge running parallel to the existing Rajendra Bridge over the Ganga near Mokama.

The exercise led to the cancellation of 35 trains, the diversion of 33 others and the short-termination or short-origination of nine services. The new bridge is designed to link the existing rail network at Upper Hathidah Junction, Tal Junction, Rampur Dumra, Dinkar Gram Simaria and Barauni Junction.

Among the cancelled services were the Howrah–Mokama Express, the Howrah–Jaynagar and Jaynagar–Howrah Express, the Jaynagar–Sealdah Express, the Malda Town–Patna Express, the Banaras–Ara Express, the Patliputra–Gorakhpur Express, the Sitamarhi–Kolkata Terminal service, the Patna–Kiul MEMU Fast Passenger and the Bhagalpur–Muzaffarpur Jansewa Express. The list also covered MEMU and intercity services on the Mokama–Kiul and Patna–Kiul sections, along with trains originating on September 27.

Diversions affected the Howrah–New Delhi Poorva Express, the Amritsar–Howrah Mail, the Howrah–Kathgodam Bagh Express, the Howrah–Dehradun Kumbha Express, the Patna–Jasidih Express, the New Jalpaiguri–Ara Capital Express, the Sambalpur–Gorakhpur Maurya Express, the Hatia–Patna Patliputra Express and both directions of the New Jalpaiguri–Patna Vande Bharat Express, among others. Several of these were rerouted via alternative sections such as Kiul–Bakhtiyarpur, Barauni–Bakhtiyarpur and Samastipur–Danapur, with stops skipped in the Danapur division.

The existing Rajendra Bridge, a 1.9-km rail-cum-road link between Mokama and Barauni, has been in service since 1959. It carries a single railway line that cannot be doubled because of technical limitations, prompting Indian Railways to approve a parallel double-line bridge in the 2015-16 Rail Budget at an estimated cost of Rs 1,491.47 crore.