(a) whether Railways have discontinued trains on Khadagpur-Rourkela railway section of Howrah-Mumbai
railway line during night time;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Ministry proposes to start additional trains during day time to resolve the inconvenience;and
(d) the details regarding the security arrangements made on said railway line?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI K.H. MUNIYAPPA)
(a) & (b) Yes, Madam. Temporarily, 3 pairs of Mail/Express trains scheduled to run during night time
on Kharagpur-Rourkela section have been diverted and 2 pairs of passenger trains run during night time
have been cancelled. All other trains scheduled to run on Kharagpur-Rourkela section are now temporarily
regulated to avoid running over the section during night time.
(c) One special train (0805/0806) has been introduced to run between Rourkela-Jharsuguda section almost
in the same path of 8008/8006 Howrah-Koraput Express, which is now running on diverted route. Suitable
connection of this special train has been provided at Jharsuguda with 8105/8106 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Express.
(d) ‘Policing on Railways’ is a State subject and prevention of crime, registration of cases, their
investigation and maintenance of law and order in Railway premises as well as on running trains are,
therefore, the statutory responsibility of the State police, which they discharge through the Government
Railway Police(GRP) of the State concerned. However, to provide better security to the travelling passengers
in trains and passenger areas, the Railway Protection Force, supplements the efforts of the State Governments
in controlling crime on the Railways.