CHENNAI: In the wake of increasing complaints about guest workers occupying reserved coaches in northbound express trains, the Railway Board has approved a new daily train service from Jogbani, a border town in Bihar’s Araria district on the India-Nepal border, to Erode.
Jogbani is located approximately 380 km from Kathmandu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the new train service soon from Bihar, where the assembly elections are scheduled to take place in October or November this year.
The railways decision comes following criticism over the reallocation of an Amrit Bharat rake, originally intended for Southern Railway, to another zone. That rake was initially proposed for a long-distance train connecting Tamil Nadu with West Bengal or Bihar.
Bihar BJP Lok Sabha member Pradeep Kumar Singh and former deputy chief minister and MLA Tarkishore Prasad shared the train’s approval on their ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) accounts. Tarkishore Prasad said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw conveyed the information over a phone call.
According to sources, the new train is aimed at providing daily travel options for a large number of guest workers from Bihar, Jharkhand and other states, employed in textile hubs like Tiruppur and surrounding areas. Due to inadequate train facilities, these workers often occupy reserved coaches of express trains heading to northern parts of the country.
The train is expected to pass through Bihar, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, and TN.
Southern Railway officials said they are yet to receive official communication regarding the train.