Passengers on Patna-Ranchi route badly hit

PATNA: Rail connectivity has been completely disrupted on Patna-Ranchi route for about six months due to Covid-19 pandemic, causing immense hardships to people of both the states. Railways has restored special train services on almost all the important routes, except on Patna-Ranchi, which had a very high traffic flow before the lockdown.
ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar said Janshatabdi special train was being run on this route, but railways had to withdraw it as the Jharkhand government prohibited train services from Bihar.
According to a senior railway official, each passenger train carries about 1,600 passengers from Patna to Ranchi or vice versa. When buses can ply between Patna and Ranchi, there is no rationale behind stopping train services by the Jharkhand government, he said, adding each train is thus equal to plying 40 buses on the Patna- Ranchi route.
Satyendra Kumar and Akhilesh, both residents of Patna, said on Sunday that they were unable to visit Ranchi to see their ailing parents due to non-availability of trains. ‘Even people inclined to visit Bokaro, Dhanbad and other cities from Patna are helpless,” they said.
Railways has a direct connectivity for Ranchi via Patna-Jehanabad-Gaya-Koderma route. The Islampur-Natesar new line will be second optional route for reaching Ranchi from Patna while the third route will be Bakhtiarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya- Koderma, sources said, adding the distance between Patna and Ranchi will thus be shortened by these two new routes.
The Fatuha-Islampur-Natesar line, which has the operational capacity to run at least four passenger trains, will also benefit goods trains running on Tilaiya-Koderma route. Besides, railways can easily run Patna-Ranchi Express, Patna- Barkakana passenger and other trains from Bihar to Jharkhand on these two new routes, instead of Jehanabad-Gaya-Koderma route, sources said.