Jamshedpur residents will soon get direct rail connectivity to Puri and the Jaipur region, with the Railway Board approving one new service and the Railway Ministry clearing another train linking Santragachi with Khatipura via Ranchi. The services are scheduled to be flagged off on October 28 and October 26 respectively.
President Droupadi Murmu will flag off the 18411/42 Badampahar–Puri Express on October 28. The train will connect Tatanagar and other stations in the Jamshedpur region with Puri through Chaibasa and Rourkela, according to information reported by the Times of India and attributed to railway officials.
At present, passengers travelling from Jamshedpur to Puri generally get down at Bhubaneswar or Khurda Road before continuing their journey by other means. The new service is intended to provide a direct rail option to the Odisha temple town. President Murmu is also scheduled to inaugurate the revamped Rairangpur and Badampahar railway stations in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district under the Amrit Bharat scheme.
Aditya Choudhary, senior divisional commercial manager of the Chakradharpur railway division of South Eastern Railway, said necessary arrangements were being made for the flag-off ceremony.
Under the proposed timetable, the Badampahar–Puri Express will arrive at Tatanagar at 5:55 pm after departing from Badampahar. It will leave Tatanagar after a 10-minute halt and reach Puri at 6 am the following day. The train will begin its return journey from Puri at 11:45 pm and arrive at Tatanagar at 11:30 am the next day.
Besides Tatanagar, the service will have 10-minute halts at Sini, Rajkharswan, Chaibasa, Jhinkpani and Dangoaposi. The route is expected to improve direct access between the industrial city, adjoining parts of Jharkhand and important destinations in Odisha.
A second service, the 18601/02 Santragachi–Khatipura Weekly Express, has been approved by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The train will provide direct rail connectivity from the region to Khatipura, near Jaipur, including access for pilgrims travelling to Khatu Shyam Ji Dham in Rajasthan.
The approval followed appeals by Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto, according to the report. Vaishnaw is scheduled to virtually flag off the train on October 26.
The Santragachi–Khatipura service will depart from Santragachi every Wednesday at 2:15 pm and reach Tatanagar at 5:50 pm. It is scheduled to arrive at Khatipura at 11 pm the following day. On its return journey, the train will leave Khatipura at 9:20 am on Fridays and reach Tatanagar at 3:05 pm the next day.
The weekly train will stop at Chandil, Purulia, Muri, Lohardaga, Latehar, Daltonganj and Garhwa Road. The scheduled flag-offs and station inaugurations will be the next milestones for the two railway developments.
