Odisha: Intra-state train services to start from Monday

BHUBANESWAR: Intra-state train services will start from Monday onwards. Six major trains will run in Odisha connecting Bhubaneswar with Sambalpur, Rourkela, Bhadrak, Koraput, Berhampur and Balangir.
Tickets are available on passenger reservation system (PRS) counters at different railway stations. It is also available online in the IRCTC website. Persons with confirmed tickets will be allowed to board the train, said East Coast Railway (ECoR) official sources.
Sources said the trains are not getting enough passengers for the first day journey of trains.One third of the train seats have been booked by passengers till 8pm of Sunday. For example, 250 passengers had booked seats in Sambalpur-Khurda Road special by 8pm on Sunday out of around 750 seats in the train.
A senior railway officer said trains have been sanitized by the ECoR. Passengers will have to reach the boarding stations 90 minutes before the train begins its journey. They will go under health screening before entering station premises. Wearing masks is mandatory for passengers, he added.
"As we allow only confirmed ticket holders to board the trains, there will be no congestion in it. One berth will be shared by one passenger only. No overcrowding will be allowed in the train compartment. Social distancing will be maintained in the trains," said the senior officer.
All these six trains will run as special trains between June 8 and July 1. No local train movement wil be allowed on Saturdays and Sundays. Therefore, five trains will run five days and one train connecting Bhubaneswar with Koraput will run three days a week, said ECoR sources.
Sambalpur-Khurda Road-Sambalpur Special (08303/05304) will leave Sambalpur at 6am and Khurda Road at 4.55pm between June 8 and June 30. Bhubaneswar-Balangir-Bhubaneswar Special (08493/08494) will leave Bhubaneswar 6.30am and Balangir at 2.45pm during this timeline.
Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Rourkela (02861/02862) special will start journey from Rourkela at 5.10am and from Bhubaneswar at 2.10pm between June 8 and June 30.
Bhubaneswar-Bhadrak-Bhubaneswar Special (08437/08438) will leave Bhubaneswar at 6pm and Bhadrak at 7.30am between June 9 and July 1. It has only two stoppages- Cuttack and Jajpur Keonjhar Road from both the directions. Similarly, Bhubaneswar-Berhampur-Bhubaneswar Special (08437/08438) will leave Bhubaneswar at 5.30pm on June 8 and Berhampur at 7am on July 1.
Bhubaneswar-Koraput-Bhubaneswar Special (08447/08448) will run via Cuttack, Angul, Sambalpur, Titilagarh and Rayagada for three days a week. It will leave Bhubaneswar at 6.30pm between June 8 and 29 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The return train will leave Koraput at 5.30pm between June 9 and June 30 on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.