Gaya: As the ECR officials have approved the proposal to suspend all operations on platform numbers 2 and 3 of Gaya railway station for six weeks, starting from February 5, several trains originating from or passing through Gaya have been cancelled, diverted, or short-terminated.The ECR officials have approved the proposal for a mega block on these two platforms to facilitate works such as track maintenance, an improved signalling system, and air concourse garter and girder installation.The operations on these platforms will remain suspended till March 21. The mega block was to begin on January 27 itself, but it was subsequently deferred. The development work is a part of the nearly Rs 300 crore project to develop, expand and renovate the Gaya station as per international standards of safety and passenger amenity.According to the officials, the Patna-Gaya section is going to be the hardest hit as eight passenger trains operating on this route will now terminate at the Chakand station, 8kms to the north of Gaya railway station. The Patna-Gaya passenger will remain suspended till March 21.Several trains, including Anand Vihar-Gaya, Lucknow-Gaya Ekatmata, will terminate at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction. Moreover, the Kamakhya Express will terminate at Manpur station to the east of river Falgu.The trains with diverted routes include the Bhabhua-Patna Express, Budh Purnima Express, Ganga-Damodar Express and Patna Hatia Express. Moreover, the Bhabhua-Patna Express will run via the Sasaram-Ara route, the Ganga Damodar Express will run via Islampur and the Hatia-Patna Express will run via Bakhtiarpur.Besides the cancellations and diversions, some trains, including Patna-Ranchi Jan Shatabdi Express, will run with fewer rakes. The number of rakes in the Patna-Ranchi Jan Shatabdi Express will be reduced from 22 to 18 during the period of disruption. Similarly, the Singrauli-Patna Express will run with 18 rakes against the normal of 20 rakes.While appreciating the need for development and renovation of the Gaya station, the zonal rail users advisory committee member Kaushalendra Pratap Singh has requested the officials to accommodate as many trains as possible.“While the termination of trains at Chakand and Manpur may be acceptable as the new terminal point is less than 10kms from Gaya railway station, the termination of several important trains at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction made little sense as DDU is more than 200kms and the new arrangement will cause great inconvenience to the passengers,” he said.
