Train ops suffer as rain damages rly tracks

Ranchi/Jamshedpur: Timings of several trains running under the Ranchi railway division were rescheduled and diverted on Friday, due to damage to railway infrastructure caused by incessant rain since Tuesday across Jharkhand.The operations of a few trains running under the railway division were also halted, as railway tracks were inundated and soil erosion severely impacted multiple railway sections. The Ranchi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express scheduled to depart from the Ranchi railway station was delayed by 2:20 hours, on Friday, following soil erosion on railway tracks. The train was scheduled at 5:10 am but was rescheduled to 7:30 am. Likewise, Ranchi- Howrah Vande Bharat Express was delayed by two hours and the Hatia- Purnia Court Express suffered 8:15 hours delay on Friday. Ranchi railway division CPRO Shuchi Singh said, "Considering passenger safety and operational requirements, the Ranchi railway division, has taken measures to ensure the safe operation of trains. Train timings have been affected due to tilting of overhead equipment poles due to soil erosion between Kita and Silli stations on the Ranchi–Muri railway section. Repairing of the affected tracks has been carried out." Arrivals of several trains from major cities including Varanasi, Howrah, Purnia Court, and Patna to Ranchi and Hatia railway stations were also affected. The Hatia–Anand Vihar Terminal Express was diverted via Tatisilwai–Mesra–Barkakana–Chandrapura, instead of its original route Tatisilwai–Muri–Kotshila–Bokaro Steel City. Ranchi–Patna Jan Shatabdi Express was also diverted through Tatisilwai–Mesra–Barkakana–Chandrapura, instead of its original route, Ranchi–Tatisilwai–Muri–Kotshila–Bokaro Steel City.Similar situation was observed at Tatanagar railway station in Jamshedpur due to the water logging at the yard caused by the heavy rainfall. The trains which were cancelled includes Tatanagar-Barkakana, Tatanagar-Kharagpur, Tatanagar-Bilaspur, Tatanagar-Chakradharpur, Tatanagar-Badampahar, Tatanagar-Barbil, Hatia-Tatanagar, among other trains. "The work relating to the pumping out of water from the tracks in the yard is almost over and resumption of normal train service will commence anytime," said Tatanagar station director Sunil Kumar.