1 Trains from (LJR)LANJIGARH ROAD to (BONA)BOINDA

EXPERIMENTAL STOPPAGE FOR DIFFERENT TRAINS AT VARIOUS STATIONS:

 â—        Additional Stoppages for 19 Trains at 07 Stations.

 â—        03 pairs of trains will have stoppages at Kotpar Road Stations.

 â—        02 pairs of trains will have stoppages at Sakhigopal Stations.

 â—        01 pair each at Kalupadaghat, Attabira & Lanjigarh Rd Stations.

 â—        02 trains will have stoppages at Soro Stations.

 â—        Baidyanathdham Express will to stop at Vidyasagar Station.

For the convenience of passengers and in view of demands from passengers, it has been decided to provide stoppages of 19 trains at 07 Stations o­n an experimental basis.

01.18107/18108 Rourkela-Jagadalpur-Rourkela from Rourkela o­n 1^st June and from Jagadalpur o­n 2^nd June will stop at Kotpar Road Station. This train from Rourkela will arrive at Kotpar Road at 0845hrs and will leave at 0847hrs. In the return direction, this train from Jagadalpur will arrive at Kotpar Road at 1443hrs and will leave at 1445hrs.

02.18447/18448 Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express from both the directions w.e.f. 1^st June 2023 will provide stoppage at Kotpar Road. This train from Bhubaneswar will arrive at Kotpar Road at 0955hrs and will leave at 0957hrs. In the return direction, this train from Jagadalpur will arrive at Kotpar Road at 1703hrs and will leave at 0705hrs.

03.18514/18513 Visakhapatnam-Kirandul-Visakhapatnam Express from Visakhapatnam w.e.f. 1^stJune and from Kirandul w.e.f. 2^nd June will provide stoppage at Kotpar Road. This train from Visakhapatnam will arrive at Kotpar Road at 0413hrs and will leave at 0415hrs. In the return direction, this train from Kirandul will arrive at Kotpar Road at 1900hrs and will leave at 1902hrs.

04.18117/18118 Rourkela-Gunupur-Rourkela Rajyarani Express from Rourkela w.e.f. 4^thJune and from Gunupur w.e.f. 5^th June will provide stoppage at Kaluparaghat Station. This train from Rourkela will arrive at Kalupadaghat at 0713hrs and will leave at 0715hrs. In the return direction, this train from Gunupur will arrive at Kaluparaghat at 2046hrs and will leave at 2048hrs.

05.12843/12844 Puri-Ahmedabad-Puri Express from Puri w.e.f. 6^th June and from Ahmedabad w.e.f. 5^th June will have stoppage at Sakhigopal Station. This train from Puri will arrive at Sakhigopal at 1747hrs and will leave at 1749hrs. In the return direction, this train from Ahmedabad will arrive at Sakhigopal at 0730hrs and will leave at 0732hrs.

06.12822/12821 Puri-Shalimar-Puri Dhauli Express from both the directions w.e.f. 6^th June will have stoppage at Sakhigopal Station. This train from Puri will arrive at Sakhigopal at 1041hrs and will leave at 1043hrs. In the return direction, this train from Shalimar will arrive at Sakhigopal at 1715hrs and will leave at 1717hrs.

07.20809/20810 Sambalpur-Nanded-Sambalpur Express from both the directions w.e.f. 5^thJune will have stoppage at Attabira Station. This train from Sambalpur will arrive at Attabira at 1113hrs and will leave at 1115hrs. In the return direction, this train from Nanded will arrive at Attabira at 1738hrs and will leave at 1740hrs.

08.20837/20838 Bhubaneswar-Junagarh Road-Bhubaneswar Express from Bhubaneswar w.e.f. 3^rdJune and from Junagarh Road w.e.f. 4^th June will have stoppage at Lanjigarh Road. This train from Bhubaneswar will arrive at Lanjigarh Road at 0720hrs and will leave at 0722hrs. In the return direction, this train from Junagarh Road will arrive at Lanjigarh Road at 1845hrs and will leave at 1847hrs.

09.18410 Puri-Shalimar Shri Jagannath Express from Puri w.e.f. 30^th May 2023 will provide stoppage at Soro Station. This train from Puri will arrive at Soro at 0302hrs and will leave at 0303hrs.

10.18477 Puri-Yog Nagari Rishikesh Kalinga Utkal Express from Puri w.e.f. 30^th May 2023 will provide stoppage at Soro Station. This train from Puri will arrive at Soro at 0102hrs and will leave at 0103hrs.

11.18449 Puri-Patna Baidyanathdham Express from Puri w.e.f. 5^th June 2023 will provide stoppage at Vidyasagar. This train from Puri will arrive at Vidyasagar at 0314hrs and will leave at 0316hrs.

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.