The Ranchi – New Delhi Rajdhani Express successfully ran on the Tori-Lohardaga railway line on Thursday for the first time, thus proving it to be a successful trial run, though unofficially.

Suhas Lohakare, senior PRO, Ranchi Division said, “The train’s route has been diverted under emergency for the time being following the derailment of a goods train on Barkakana-Garhwa line on February 19. The train will run on its usual Barkakana route once the tracks are cleared, most likely in a day or two.”

The successful run of Rajdhani Express on the route has raised hopes among many who travel regularly from Delhi to Ranchi as this route reduces the travel time from two to three hours.  Apart from Rajadhani, the other major trains that run from Delhi to Ranchi include Garib Rath, Jammu Tavi Express and Sampark Kranti express. If the route of these trains is shifted from Barkakana-Muri to Tori Lohardaga, the travel time for them would be reduced too.

However, Neeraj Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), cum Sr DOM, Ranchi Division said, “There has been a demand for shifting the route of trains from Delhi to Ranchi to the Tori-Lohardaga line since a long time.  This particular shift was only for emergency, it will not be a regular feature as of now.”

At present only Ranchi-Lohardaga train and a few coach trains from Dhanbad ply on this 30 kilometre long track. Kumar informed that a number of factors have to be considered before any final call is taken for the shifting of train routes permanently, including the change in timings, availability of slot at Delhi Railway Station among many others.

Meanwhile, the traffic on Dhanbad-Chandrapura rail route, which was stopped in 2017 following reports of underground coal mine fire, will also be restored from February 24. The trains which will be re-routed to Dhanbad Katrasgarh route include Howrah-Ranchi-Howrah Shatabdi Express, Allappauzha-Dhanbad-Allappuzha Express, Hatia-Gorakhpur-Hatia Maurya Express and Ranchi-Dhanbad-Ranchi Intercity Express.

Jhargram-Sonardih MEMU Passenger will be extended up to Dhanbad from February 24.

The extended Jhargram-Sonardih-Dhanbad Passenger train will stop at Deonagar Halt, Jamuniatand, Jamunia Halt, Phulwaritand, Budorahalt, Tundu Halt, Sonardih, Tentulia Halt, Katrasgarh, Angarpathra Halt, Sijua, Bansjora, Baseria Halt and Kusunda between Dhanbad and Chandrapura.