Ranchi Railway Launches Bus Service Amid Bridge Repair: Lohardaga to Irgaon Route Affected

Ranchi: The Ranchi railway division is all set to launch bus services from Lohardaga to Irgaon to ensure that passengers do not face any inconvenience due to the ongoing repair work of a railway bridge in the Ranchi-Lohardaga-Tori section of the division.

Divisional railway manager (DRM) of Ranchi railway division Karuna Nidhi Singh said the two pillars of the bridge number 115 have developed some cracks, due to which train services on the route have been impacted.

“To ease out the inconvenience of passengers, the division will launch a bus service to cover around seven kilometre from Lohardaga to Irgaon. Meanwhile, trains on the section have been diverted on other routes so that passengers do not have face any problem. The repairing will take some time and normal operations will tentatively resume from March,” the DRM said.

A team of experts, along with South Eastern Railway (SER) general manager Anil Kumar Mishra inspected the damaged railway bridge, located on the Koel River between Nagjua and Loardaga stations on Tuesday.

Mishra said, “The primary reason behind the crack is suspected to be due to sand excavation from the river, which exposed the foundation of the pillars. Water flow of the river led to soil erosion resulting in tilting of the pier. We have planned a meticulous restoration measure.”

Due to the ongoing issues, a few trains have been cancelled and diverted on the route. Ranchi–Sasaram Express will remain cancelled from Ranchi from Jan 5 to Jan 7. Sasaram–Ranchi Express will remain cancelled from Sasaram from Jan 6 to Jan 8.