Janata Dal (United) leader Saryu Roy staged a protest along with his supporters outside the main entrance of Tatanagar Railway Station on Tuesday (7 April), highlighting mounting frustration over the persistent delays affecting passenger trains passing through the Chakradharpur division.
The demonstration, organised by Roy's supporters, drew attention to the worsening punctuality crisis on the busy Howrah-Mumbai railway corridor.
Personnel from the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police were deployed at the station to maintain order during the dharna.
Protesters alleged that passengers had been facing severe inconvenience for years, with trains frequently running several hours behind schedule.
Railway sources estimate that more than 170 trains pass through the division daily, including nearly 120 freight trains carrying minerals from eastern India's mining belt.
The heavy freight traffic has significantly slowed passenger services, causing regular delays across the corridor.
Even premium trains such as the Howrah-CSMT Duronto Express and the Howrah-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express have struggled on this route, often running more than three hours behind schedule. Regular mail, express, and MEMU trains also face similar delays.
Protestors also alleged that they were manhandled by railway authorities. (PC: Saryu Roy /Facebook)Officials of the South Eastern Railway acknowledged the concerns and said efforts were underway to address operational issues affecting the division.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Aditya Kumar Choudhary said railway authorities were closely monitoring train movements and taking steps to improve the situation.
He noted that several constraints were affecting punctuality, including ongoing non-interlocking work at the station, the absence of a third railway line on the corridor, and restrictions caused by elephant movement near forest stretches.
Choudhary added that redevelopment plans for Tatanagar station are underway and will include expanding platform capacity as well as creating a freight corridor to separate goods and passenger traffic.
In the Union Budget 2026-27, Centre cleared the East-West dedicated freight corridor spanning about 2,052 km, linking Dankuni in West Bengal with Surat in Gujarat, which is expected to reduce the congestion on this line.
The work is expected to take around three years, after which officials hope that train movements will stabilise and punctuality will improve.
Concerns over delayed trains have also triggered other protests in recent days.
On Monday (6 April), members of the district co-operative department of the East Singhbhum District Congress Committee held a separate dharna at Palang Market, raising similar demands for improved railway services.
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