PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Dec 20: Rail passengers are set to face major inconvenience once again as train operations in the Chakradharpur Railway Division under South Eastern Railway (SER) will be affected for nearly a month due to Non-Interlocking (NI) work.
According to railway officials, line blocks will be taken on different dates from December 20 to January 21 at various stations across the division.
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During this period, several trains will remain cancelled, some will be short-terminated or short-originated, while others will run on rescheduled timings or via diverted routes.
Overall, train travel in the Chakradharpur division is expected to be difficult over the next month.
As per information released by the railway administration, Train No. 18109/18110 Tatanagar–Itwari–Tatanagar Express, Train No. 18175/18176 Hatia–Jharsuguda–Hatia Express, and Train No. 68043/68044 Tatanagar–Rourkela–Tatanagar MEMU will remain cancelled on December 20, 23, 27 and 30 and January 3, 6, 10, 13, 17 and 20, 2026.
In addition, Train No. 58659 Hatia–Rourkela Passenger and 58660 Rourkela–Hatia Passenger will remain fully cancelled from December 20 to January 21.
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The NI work will also impact the Ispat Express. Train No. 22861 Howrah–Kantabanji/Titlagarh Ispat Express will be short-terminated at Tatanagar on different dates between December 20 and January 20, and will return to Howrah from there. During this period, the Tatanagar–Kantabanji/Titlagarh leg will remain cancelled.
Similarly, Train No. 22862 Kantabanji/Titlagarh–Howrah Ispat Express will be short-terminated and originated at Jharsuguda, affecting services between Jharsuguda and Howrah.
Among rescheduled services, Train No. 18310 Jammu Tawi–Sambalpur Express will depart 5.5 hours late from Jammu Tawi on different dates between December 18 and January 18, while Train No. 18106 Jaynagar–Rourkela Express will leave Jaynagar 3.5 hours late between December 19 and January 19.
Additionally, Train No. 18477 Puri–Rishikesh Utkal Express will run on a diverted route via Cuttack–Sambalpur Yard–Jharsuguda Road–Ib instead of its regular route from December 19 to January 19.
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Frequent cancellations and operational changes have triggered strong resentment among passengers.
Commuters allege that repeated cancellation of passenger trains amounts to injustice to common travellers.
