Let city train run for now: High court

PATNA: The Patna high court on Thursday accepted the request of the railways that train services on Patna-Digha route should not be withdrawn for the time being as it might lead to encroachments on the land.
The petition seeking withdrawal of train services and transformation of the land owned by railways into a four-lane road connecting the north and south Patna came up for hearing before the division bench of Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Prakash Chandra Jaiswal. The train between R-Block railway station and Digha passes through the busy Hartali Mor at peak hours, triggering traffic jams and leaving commuters stranded.

Sources said earlier the high court was inclined to withdraw the train services on the 2km-long track as the railways had made it clear that it was not interested to run the "lossmaking" passenger train. The train runs despite loss of over Rs 6 lakh per month. It earns just Rs 7,800 per month.

The matter will now come up for hearing in the high court after four weeks.