Indian Railways resumes six passenger trains passing through Chhattisgarh

Services of six trains were resumed, days after the operation of 23 trains was stopped due to track maintenance work as passengers face difficulty in commuting.

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After a telephonic conversation between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on April 26, services of six trains were resumed, days after the operation of 23 trains was stopped due to track maintenance work. 

According to Chief Minister's Office (CMO), after a discussion with Baghel, the Union Railway Minister has announced the operation of six major passenger trains passing through Chhattisgarh namely 18237/18238 Chhattisgarh Express, 12807/12808 Samta Express, and 12771/12772 Secunderabad-Raipur-Secunderabad Express will be resumed. 

Earlier on Tuesday (April 26), Baghel urged Vaishnaw to restart the operation of all 23 passenger trains. The South East Central Railway, Bilaspur issued an order on April 23, stating that the operation of a total of 23 express and local trains passing through Chhattisgarh has been stopped for the next one month from April 24, 2022. 

In a telephonic conversation with Vaishnaw, the CM apprised him of the difficulties faced by commuters due to the cancellation of these trains. "Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel had a telephonic conversation with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and apprised him of the problems being faced by the passengers of the state due to cancellation of operation of about 23 passenger trains passing through the state," said CMO. 

Baghel urged the Railway Minister to resume the operation of these trains in view of public interest. The Railway Minister assured that the demand of the Chief Minister would be resolved soon after taking a suitable decision. Earlier, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister objected to the decision of the Railways to halt the operation of 23 local trains passing through the state from April 24, 2022, for track upgradation work. 

The Chhattisgarh government wrote to the Railway Board urging it to continue the operation of local trains passing through the state. According to the state government, no alternative arrangement has been made for the passengers before the closure of services of these trains. 

The Chhattisgarh government said earlier a total of 10 trains were discontinued by a similar kind of order by the South East Central Railway issued in March 2022. The state government wrote to Railways on April 5 requesting to continue the operation of the above trains but the request of the state government was ignored. 

(With inputs from ANI)