Railway Minister to be met with request for more trains

Ranchi: When Union railway minister Sadananda Gowda will arrive in Ranchi to hold a review meeting of the South Eastern Railway (SER) on Thursday, the Ranchi railways division will table before him one of its passengers’ longstanding demands of providing more trains connecting Ranchi to south India. The officials are set to table before Gowda the demand for two pairs of trains to Tamil Nadu to manage the ever growing rush.
“The division has drafted a request for two pairs of trains to Trivandrum and Chennai which will be tabled to the minister at Thursdays’ meeting,” said a top official requesting anonymity. “This will ease the burden off 12385 Hatia-Yeshwantpur and 13351 Dhanbad-Alaapuzha Express,” he added. “South bound passengers face trouble in getting tickets. If approved, the trains will cater to the pilgrims and patients that ply to south India in heavy numbers throughout the year,” the official added.
In his maiden visit to Ranchi after assuming office in May, Gowda will hold a review meeting of the officials of SER on Wednesday that will be attended by general managers of SER and divisional railway managers (DRM) of Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur and Ranchi divisions. “Wednesday’s meeting will feature performance and progress of SER. Safety measures of rail routes in red corridor is also on the cards,” Ranchi DRM Deepak Kashyap said.
The officials of Ranchi division started preparations on Wednesday as the DRM held a closed door meeting to tabulate their performance ahead of the meeting. In addition to the review-meet, Gowda is slated to visit Maoist hotbed Chatra to oversee the commissioning of the new Shivpur-Kathotia railway track under Dhanbad division of East Central Railway (ECR).
Meanwhile, members of Jharkhand Passengers Association (JPA) headed by consumer advisor of Ranchi railway division R K Sarawagi wrote to the DRM for providing better services in Namkum station after his visit on Wednesday. The JPA demanded the construction of a foot overbridge , clean drinking water and a separate reservation counter for women in the station. “The JPA is also planning to meet the railway minister and demand improved passenger services in stations across the state,” JPA secretary Prem Kataruka said.