Jamshedpur: In order to accommodate the rush of passengers to and from Bihar ahead of Diwali and Chhath Puja, South Eastern Railways (SER) will launch two festive special trains from Tatanagar from Tuesday.
Both the trains — Durg Rajendra Nagar Terminal Express and Tatanagar-Danapur Express — will run to and from Bihar seven days a week, the bookings for which have started already from Saturday, railway officials said. Both trains will run from Tatanagar to Bihar till November 30 and those coming to Jharkhand from the neighbouring state can avail the trains’ services from November 11 to December 2.
The Durg Express will depart from Tatanagar at 7:30pm and reach Rajendra Nagar the next day at 7:45am. When coming to the state from Bihar, it will depart at 8:50pm and reach Tatanagar the next morning at 7:55.
Danapur Express will depart from Tatanagar at 8:15am and reach Bihar at 7:22pm on the same day. For those coming to Tatanagar from Bihar, the train will chug off at 6am and reach Jamshedpur in the evening at 5:50.
“All the festive special trains are reserved and so the passengers should not arrive at the station without confirmed tickets,” senior commercial divisional manager (Chakradharpur) Manish Kumar Pathak said. He urged the passengers to comply with the safety measures pertaining to Covid-19 while travelling on the trains.
DIG (GRP) Shailendra Kumar Sinha said that security on the trains is being tightened in view of the festive rush.
SER decided to introduce the two trains after Tatanagar-Chhapra Express, which resumed service from November 5, received an overwhelming response. The express train, which runs from Jamshedpur to Bihar every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and from the neighbouring state to Jharkhand every Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, is operating at full capacity at the moment, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Ranchi rail division will run such similar special trains between Ranchi, Patna and Jai Nagar from November 16 to 21 and between Ranchi, Hatia and Patna from November 10 to December 1. Chief PRO of Ranchi rail division Niraj Kumar said the special trains are being run in view of the passengers’ need. “Most of the trains moving between Ranchi and different cities of Bihar are witnessing a high flow of passengers,” he said. He added that the standard operating procedures pertaining to Covid-19 are being followed properly.