The long pending demand of people of Jharkhand especially those of Ranchi and Lohardaga district was fulfilled today as Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Special Express started its maiden journey via the Lohardaga-Tori rain link.

BJP parliamentarians including Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth, Rajya  Sabha members Deepak Prakash, Mahesh Poddar, Ranchi MLA CP Singh and DRM Pradeep Gupta flagged off the Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express via Tori-Lohardaga route. The train, decorated with flowers, will reach Delhi on Friday in two hour less via a new route.

From Delhi, the train will leave every Wednesday and travel on the altered route to reach Ranchi. According to the railways, the train will stop at Tori, Daltonganj, Garhwa Road — all three in Jharkhand reaching New Delhi with stoppages at Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Junction (Mugal Sarai), Prayagraj and Kanpur junctions. The train will, however, not halt at Lohardaga junction.

Ranchi Rajdhani runs four days a week via two routes. The train cuts through Muri-Barkakhana for two days and takes the Ranchi-Bokaro route on the other days.

People especially those of Lohardaga district are upset with the train having no stoppage at Lohardaga station as they claimed that it will not serve the very purpose of their demands.  Jagmohan Agarwal, a resident of Lohardaga said, “We have been demanding from the Railway to operate Rajdhani Express via Lohardaga. The Railway has accepted our demand, but not allotting a stoppage at Lohardaga station will not serve the very purpose of our demand.”

Agarwal further said, “If Lohardaga too is allotted as a stoppage, residents especially traders of Lohardaga will be benefitted as they don’t have to go to Ranchi to board Rajdhani Express. Moreover, having a stoppage at Lohardaga will help in developing trade and commerce in backward districts like Lohardaga.”  

Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth welcomed running of Rajdhani Express via Lohardaga Tori route saying that he had been pursuing the issue with the Union government for long. “This line was conceptualised by the late Atal Behari Vajpayee. Now that the railways have formally announced plans to run the Rajdhani via this route, Vajpayee’s dream project is finally set to become a reality,” said Seth.

He also appealed to the rail minister to consider a halt at Lohardaga junction for the Ranchi Rajdhani Express for the benefit of local passengers. He said, “I will meet the Railway minister with the demand to have a stoppage of Rajdhani Express at Lohardaga and also running of Rajdhani express via Mesra-Barkakhana-Hazaribagh route. The demand also includes development of Piska station on lines of Anand Vihar station.”

The use of the Tori line will cut travel time between Ranchi and Delhi by at least two hours, officials in Ranchi division said. The 111km- long Tori line project was conceived in 1997, but work began only in 2001. It was completed in 2017.

The successful trial on the 111km Lohardaga-Tori line took place in 2019 after laying off the alternate route to Delhi from Ranchi. Even during the peak of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, when special trains carrying oxygen were run from Ranchi to northern parts of the country, the Lohardaga-Tori line was used.