Passengers face harrowing time due to route diversion after derailment

GAYA: The travel schedule of passengers to Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Purnia, New Delhi, Bikaner, Gwalior, Asansol from Gaya was affected due to the derailment of goods train near Gurpa station on Gaya- Koderma section on Wednesday morning.The East Central Railway (ECR) chief public relations officer, in a press statement, said the Dhanbad-Dehri Intercity Express was stopped at Gomoh station and Asansol-Varanasi Express at Tankuppa, while Gaya-Asansol Express was cancelled. These trains did not arrive at Gaya and the passengers scheduled to travel to Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi or Asansol had to either cancel their journey or look for other options, including bus service.The passengers also had a harrowing time due to route diversion of trains. The Purnia Court-Hatia Express reached Gaya via Dehri-on-Sone, Garhwa road Tori-Lohardaga-Ranchi. Those scheduled to travel to Delhi from Puri-New Delhi Express also suffered as its route was diverted via Rajabera-Bhandaridah, Garhwa Road-Dehri-on-Sone.Priyanka Sinha, who was waiting for the Purnia Court-Hatia train, said, “I had to board the train for Ranchi. But its route was diverted. Hence, I will have to take a bus. There is apprehension that the journey from diverted route might take much time because of the pressure of other trains running on their regular routes. I had to reach Ranchi today for Bhaiya Dooj on Thursday. Vishal Kumar, who had to go to Bokaro, said, “Because of diversion of routes for several trains, those scheduled to go to Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bokaro and other stations faced trouble. The routes of some express trains coming to Gaya from Delhi had also been diverted. Thus, many people coming home for Chhath will not be reaching Gaya directly. Many passengers scheduled to travel to Ranchi, Bokaro and Dhanbad opted for bus service.