The South Eastern Railway that has been at the receiving end of developmental works and other kinds of traffic blocks in different zones, of late, has announced major changes in its train timings. The zonal railway has announced revision in the timings of around 186 trains to improve punctuality.

The zonal railway yesterday announced cancellation of around 24 trains, including 07234 Secunderabad-Santragachi Special, 08845 Santragachi-SMVT Bengaluru Special, 06090 Santragachi-Tambaram Special, 06079 Chennai Egmore-Santragachi Special, 06508 Kharagpur-SMVT Bengaluru Special, 06566 Malda Town-SMVT Bengaluru Special and so on. The cancellations start from 16 June varying to different dates for different trains as per their schedules. The cancellations that are to continue until further notice, however, come as a result of the developmental works in South Central Railway.

According to official sources in the zonal railway, on several occasions, the trains of the SER are getting late due to blocks or other kinds of delays in the zones through which the trains have to pass. “It has been observed that there are uncertainties in train timings following maintenance blocks or other kinds of activities in the zones through which the SER trains are passing,” informed the chief public relations office of the SER, Om Prakash Charan. “Considering the situation, the Railway Board has adjusted the timings to the revised schedule,” he added.

The revised timings, according to the CPRO, have been notified and would continue until further notice.

To avert such delays, the zonal railway, according to the SER, has brought changes in the schedule of several crucial trains including popular ones. Among the trains that have undergone a change in their schedule are 12813—Howrah—Tata Steel Express, 12860—Howrah—CSMT Gitanjali Express, 12884—Rupashi Bangla between Purulia and Howrah, 18615 – Kriya Yoga Express, 12827 – Purulia SF Express, 12130—Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express, 08160—Tata-Kharagpur Memu, 18013 HWH BKSC EXP runs from Kolkata Howrah Junction (HWH) to Bokaro Steel City and 18028 – Asansol–Kharagpur MEMU Express among others. These trains run by the South Eastern Railway cater to a large number of passengers from Kolkata as well as other parts of West Bengal. Some of the other trains from the neighbouring states that have undergone a revision in time table include 13301 – Swarna Rekha Express, 13303- Dhanbad-Ranchi Intercity Express, 18451–Tapaswini Express between Hatia and Puri, 08150- Rourkela to Hatia, 12874 – Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express and so on. The 186 trains are being run on a revised timing from yesterday. As learnt from the time table shared by the zonal railway, the change in schedule includes the departure time being brought forward or even pushed back by a few minutes than its earlier time table. For instance, the departure time of 18013 HWH BKSC Express and 18011 Howrah Chakradharpur Express has been revised to 12.05 am from its earlier schedule of 11.35 pm while that of the 18028 Asansol-Kharagpur MEMU Express has been changed to 10.30 pm from 10.15 pm.