ROURKELA: The demand for stoppages of two Duronto Express trains at Rourkela on the Howrah-Mumbai mainline of South Eastern Railway (SER) continues to remain unfulfilled drawing criticism from various fora. The express train however will have an additional stoppage at Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
Sources said, Raipur is the latest addition to commercial stoppages of 12221/12222 Howrah-Pune Duranto Express and 12261/12262 Howrah-Mumbai Duranto Express. In 2019, the then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal replying to Sundargarh Lok Sabha MP and Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence Jual Oram on December 11 denied the proposal for stoppage of 12221/12222 Howrah-Pune Duranto Express at Rourkela. Goyal went on to state, “Duronto Express trains are long-distance fast moving prestigious trains with very limited stoppages enroute. Proliferation of stoppages is not operationally expedient. However, Rourkela is well-connected to both Kolkata and Pune.”
In this connection, general secretary of UDBHAV, a forum for integrated development and mass awareness, VP Tiwari sent a letter to SECR on Monday reiterating demand for stoppages of both trains at Rourkela. “The Railway Board quickly approved the proposal allowing stoppage of both trains at Raipur which is just 108 kms from Bilaspur but ignored Rourkela and the 200-km SER line passing through tribal areas. This just highlights the step-motherly treatment of the Railway Ministry towards Odisha,” added Tiwari.
Tiwari further sought the intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to look into the matter as Rourkela is a bulk contributor to SER.