ROURKELA: In a relief for passengers of Koraput and Raygada districts, the South Eastern Railway (SER) has announced to restore services of the 18005/18006 Howrah-Jagdalpur-Howrah Samaleshwari Express via Sambalpur from 2022.
The train from Howrah and Jagdalpur would run four days in a week. SER informed on Friday that the service of 18005 Howrah-Jagdalpur Express from Howrah would resume from January 3. The train from Howrah would leave every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 10.20 pm to reach Jagdalpur the next day at 10.05 pm. In the opposite direction, 18006 Jagdalpur-Howrah Express from Jagdalpur would resume service from January 5. It would leave Jagdalpur every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 5.05 am and reach Howrah at 5.15 am the next day.
The train will have stoppages at Uluberia, Bagnan, Mecheda, Panskura, Kharagpur, Jhargram, Tatanagar, Chakradharpur, Manoharpur, Rourkela, Rajgangpur, Bamra and Jharsuguda in Up direction of SER jurisdiction. The 18006 train in Down direction will not stop at Mecheda, but will have stoppage at Santragachi, the SER said.
Sources said the resumption of Samaleshwari Express assumes greater significance for passengers travelling between Rourkela and Koraput as now, only the Rourkela-Koraput InterCity Express is a direct train to Koraput.
The Howrah-Jagdalpur-Howrah Samaleshwari Express was stopped from March, 2020 after the declaration of the first Covid-19 lockdown.