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In view of the increasing movement of elephants in the elephant corridor, Chakradharpur Railway Division has canceled four pairs of trains including Tatanagar-Guva and Tata-Itwari in view of security. Many express and MEMU trains will also be short terminated between December 20 and January 20. Railways has made this temporary change to ensure the safety of wildlife and passengers.
Jamshedpur: In view of the increasing movement of elephants these days in the forest and elephant corridor areas of Chakradharpur Railway Division, the Railway Administration has taken a big and sensitive decision. With the aim of protecting elephants and reducing the possibility of railway accidents, temporary changes have been made in the operation of many local and express trains connected to Tatanagar. This will have a direct impact on MEMU, passenger and express trains running through Tatanagar.
According to the Railway Board, four pairs of trains have been completely canceled due to the movement of elephants. These include 68003/68004 Tatanagar–Guava MEMU, 68009/68010 Tatanagar–Chakradharpur MEMU, 68025/68026 Chakradharpur–Rourkela MEMU and 58151/58152 Birmitrapur–Barsua MEMU running from Tatanagar on 20th and 21st December. All these trains pass through Tatanagar and its surrounding forest areas, where continuous movement of elephants is being recorded.
Not only cancelled, but trips of many important trains from Tatanagar to Itwari and Rourkela have also been cancelled. 18109/18110 Tata-Itwari Express trips will be canceled on 20 December, 23 December, 27 December, 30 December, 3 January, 6 January, 10 January, 13 January, 17 January and 20 January. Whereas 68043/68044 Tata-Rourkela-Tatanagar MEMU will also not run on these dates. This will definitely cause some trouble to everyday passengers, but Railways is calling it a necessary step from security point of view.
Apart from this, changes have also been made in the routes of long distance express trains. 22861 Howrah–Kantabanji Express and Howrah–Titlagarh Ispat Express will be short terminated at Tatanagar on different dates between 20th December to 20th January. On the return journey, 22862 Kantabanji-Howrah Express and Titlagarh-Howrah Ispat Express will also be short terminated at Jharsuguda for several days during the same period.
Railway officials say that the Tatanagar-Chakradharpur-Rourkela section falls in the natural corridor of elephants. In such a situation, a little carelessness can turn into a big accident. Therefore, this decision has been taken keeping in mind the safety of both passengers and wildlife. Passengers have been appealed to check the status of their train before travelling, so that there is no inconvenience.
