All-woman crew greets GM of ECR, pilots special train

PATNA: It was a historic day for the East Central Railway (ECR) when an all-woman crew piloted a special train during inspection by general manager (GM) L C Trivedi on Saharsa-Darbhanga route under Samastipur division on Saturday.

Loco pilot Sanyukta Kumari, assistant loco pilot Meenakshi Kumari and guard Deepa Kumari took command of the train. Even security protocol of the special train was managed by RPF women staff, much to the appreciation of the GM.

ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar said the GM started the inspection from Saharsa station where a girl child got an opportunity to inaugurate newly-built foot overbridge (FOB) and coach guidance system. The GM later inspected availability of passenger amenities and inaugurated a world-class automatic coach washing plant at Saharsa.

“The automatic washing plant, which is rare in the railways, has the capacity to wash coaches externally even when the train is in motion. It can wash 70 to 80 coaches per hour and clean 300 to 350 coaches per day,” the CPRO said.

The GM later inspected the Supaul-Saraigarh-Nirmali-Jhanjharpur section of the division. He took stock of the track condition, signalling system, station building and bridge condition on the route.

The GM expressed satisfaction over the condition of the Kosi rail bridge, which was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in September 2020. He also inspected fitness of tracks on the Sarigarh-Nirmali-Jhanjharpur route.

The 1.9km-long Kosi rail bridge was constructed with an expenditure of Rs 516 crore, ending the 87-year wait for the people of Kosi region. Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation for the bridge on June 6, 2003.

Samastipur divisional railway manager Ashok Maheshwari and other senior railway officials were present during inspection.