JATH ROAD

TRAIN SERVICES OVER EAST COAST RAILWAY JURISDICTION TO BE AFFECTED TEMPORARILY FOR SAFETY RELATED MODERNISATION WORK AT DIFFERENT PLACES:

●        Bridge rebuilding between Rajathagarh and Joranda road in Bhubaneswar/Cuttack-Dhenkanal Railway Section:

●        Construction of Limited Height Subways in Chhatrapur-Jagannathpur Railway Stations in Chhatrapur-Brahmapur Rail Section.

●        Second chord line between Brundamal Station and MAVM Siding.

●        Bridge Rebuilding between Khariar Road-Nawapara Road-Lapanga and Important Track Machine Works between Lapanga & Rengali.

Cancellation of Train:

A.08441/08442 Bhubaneswar-Brahmapur-Bhubaneswar Passenger Special from both the directions o­n 5^th June 2023.

B.08264 Bilaspur-Titilagarh Passenger from Bilaspur from 7^th to 9^th June.

C.08277 Titilagarh-Raipur Passenger from Titilagarh from 7^th to 9^th June.

D.08171/08172 Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda MEMU from both sides from 7^th to 9^th June.

E. 08169/08170 Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda MEMU from both sides from 7^th to 9^thJune.

F.08263Titilagarh-Bilaspur Passenger from Titilagarh from 8^th to 10^th June.

G.08278 Raipur-Titilagarh Passenger from Raipur from 8^th to 10^th June.

H.08527/08528 Raipur-Visakhapatnam-Raipur Passenger Special from both sides o­n 3^rd June, 2023.

I.08275 Raipur-Junagarh Road Passenger Special from Raipur o­n 3^rd June’2023.

J.08276 Junagarh Road-Raipur Passenger Special from Junagarh Road o­n 4^th June’2023.

Partial Cancellation of Trains:

A.08263 Titilagarh-Bilaspur Passenger Special from Titilagarh o­n 3^rd & 5^th June 2023 will run up to Sambalpur and will return to Titilagarh as 08264 Bilaspur-Titilagarh Passenger Special.

B.08264 Bilaspur-Titilagarh Passenger Special from Bilaspur o­n 3^rd & 5^th June 2023 will run up to Brajarajnagar and will return back as 08263 Titilagarh-Bilaspur Passenger Special from Brajarajnagar to Bilaspur.

C.Services of both the trains between Sambalpur and Brajarajnagar from both sides will remain cancelled.

Rescheduling of Train:

A.17016 Secunderabad-Bhubaneswar Visakha Express from Secunderabad at 1650hrs will leave at 2050hrs o­n 4^thJune 2023.

B.12840 Chennai-Howrah Mail from Chennai at 1920hrs will leave at 2320hrs o­n 4^th June 2023.

C.18048 Vasco da gama-Howrah Amaravati Express from Vasco at 0630hrs will leave at 1030hrs o­n 4^th June 2023.

D.12807 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from Visakhapatnam o­n 3^rd June will leave at 1020hrs instead of 0920hrs.

E.20808 Amritsar-Visakhapatnam Hirakud Express from Amritsar 3^rd June at 2355hrs will leave at 0455hrs o­n 4^thJune 2023.

F.18125 Rourkela-Puri Express from Rourkela o­n 3^rd, 5^th & 7^th June 2023 will leave at 1005hrs instead of 0805hrs.

Regulation of Trains:

20808 Amritsar-Visakhapatnam Hirakud Express from Amritsar o­n 31^st May, 22840 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Inter City Express from Bhubaneswr o­n 2^ndJune, 20895 Rameswaram-Bhubaneswar Express from Rameswaram o­n 4^thJune and 18464 Bangalore-Bhubaneswar Prashanti Express from Bangalore o­n 4^thJune 2023 will be controlled en-route for a few minutes.

On the night of April 6th, 2023, a tragic incident occurred in the Angul-Sambalpur Railway Section, where an elephant lost its life due to a train accident between Boinda and Jarapada Stations. Some media outlets have reported that the incident occurred due to a lack of coordination between the Railway and Forest Department.

It is mentioned here that, there are Wildlife Control Cells functioning at Divisional Headquarters at Sambalpur and Khurda Road Railway Division that provide information regarding movement of elephants to the Divisional Controls so that the movement of wildlife will be safe o­n Railway tracks. This coordination leads to the railways running the trains at a lower speed and blowing horns while moving o­n a particular stretch of track to avoid wildlife and train conflict.

In this particular incidence, the Wildlife Control Cell manned by Forest Department at Sambalpur Railway Division gave a Memo to the Divisional Control Office o­n restriction of Train Movement at 06.30p.m. o­n 06.04.2023 mentioning that in view of Elephant movement, train running should be restricted with Speed Limit of 50Kmph from Kms 125/00 to Kms 131/00 from both sides between Boinda and Jarapada Stations from 06.30p.m. of 06.04.2023 to 06.30a.m. of 07.04.2023.

Upon receiving this information, the Railways took necessary steps, and the instructions were clearly communicated to the Loco Pilot, who followed the orders provided to him through a caution order. However, it should be noted that the unfortunate incident occurred beyond the above-mentioned area, specifically at KMs 131/23-25, which is beyond the elephant passing zone, as per the memo of the Forest Department. The incident occurred at 2121hrs while 20832 Sambalpur-Shalimar Mahima Gosain Express was approaching Jarapada Railway Station from Boinda in Sambalpur-Angul Railway Section, with all precautions taken by maintaining the above-mentioned speed limit, blowing horns, and following all caution orders.

After the incident, the loco-pilot checked the spot and proceeded to Jarapada Station at 2149hrs and reached at 2152hrs and reported the incident to the Station authorities. Later, the Railway track was checked, and permission was given for train movement at 2233hrs.

A team of forest and Wildlife Department visited the spot to remove the elephant body from Railway Track o­n 7th April 2023. Railway officials also cooperated with Forest Department for removal of Elephant body from the train line. Train Traffic Movement Block was taken from 1445hrs to 1510hrs for this purpose.

ECoR takes the unfortunate incident of the elephant's death very seriously and is monitored at the top level of management. All channels of communication are open for proper coordination with the Forest Department, and there is no lack of coordination from the Railway system.

It is further mentioned here that, there was no casualty or injury to any passenger and all the passengers were safe. Swift and appropriate action had been taken by East Coast Railway o­n receipt of the information regarding Elephant Movement.

It is also mentioned that, with proper coordination with the Forest department, ECoR has already been following elephant caution orders, where the speed of trains is restricted for the safe movement of elephants o­n the track, at the cost of punctuality of the trains. Elephant caution orders exist at many places in ECoR jurisdiction, like near Rambha & Huma in Khurda Road-Brahmapur Railway Section, Naraj-Rajathgarh Section, Rajathgarh-Angul-Sambalpur Railway Sections apart from other places in ECoR jurisdiction where Railway is coordinating with Forest Department for saving wildlife.