Jamshedpur: The movement of 23 passenger trains was affected on the busy Howrah-Mumbai route on Wednesday due to a blockade at the Goilkera railway station in West Singhbhum. A local outfit called Nagrik Ekta Manch started the blockade at 8:30am and lifted it seven hours later at 3:30pm. The organisation is demanding stoppage of five long-distance express and superfast trains at Goilkera.
The protesters agreed to suspend their protest for a week following much persuasion by the officials of the Chakradharpur railway division.
“We have appealed to the leaders of the outfit to wait for a response from the railway board regarding the stoppage of trains,” the senior divisional commercial manager of Chakradharpur, Manish Pathak, said.
Earlier, over 1,000 people from Goilkera and adjoining places arrived at the station and occupied the up and down tracks and the third line on the Chakradharpur-Rourkela section.
Pathak said 19 trains on the up line and four on the down line got stranded at different stations during the agitation. Twelve freight trains also got stuck for hours.
“Even traditional village heads and panchayat members participated in the agitation,” Laxman Megandi, the president of the manch, said.
Notably, the locals are demanding the stoppage of Durg-Danapur South Bihar Express, Howrah-Ahmedabad Express, Howrah-Koraput Express, Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express and Puri-Rishikesh Utkal Special at the Goilkera station.
An official at the divisional railway office said on the condition of anonymity: “Express trains stop at those stations that have a daily ticket sale of Rs 18,000. In Goilkera station, the daily ticket sale averages only Rs 2,000.”