Title - Danapur station to be developed as terminal point

With the rise in volume of traffic under Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR), railways is giving a facelift to Danapur station, one of the oldest ones in the eastern zone. Railways is planning to develop it as a terminal point of the division under its Vision 2020 to cope with the increasing load of rail traffic and rush of passengers.The DRM said the newly built Patliputra station, which will be thrown open for traffic by the end of this month, is linked to Danapur station. Soon after its commissioning, railways has to cope with a huge rush of traffic at Danapur end also. It intends to build a route relay interlocking (RRI) system at Danapur station in future, Jha said.

According to Danapur DRM L M Jha, the station needs proper development keeping in view passengers amenities and traffic operation. The station is the main artery of the division while Patna Junction is the hub of passenger trains, he said.

Jha said railways has started building intermediary block huts (IBH) to increase the line capacity on the mainline section of the division right from Jhajha to Mughalsarai. The long section of IBH is being reduced to a minimum distance so that there is no hurdle in movement of passenger trains from both Up and Down directions, he said, adding that loop lines are being built at six important places on the mainline for the smooth passage of traffic load.

While a spacious circulating area of station is under construction, railways has decided to build a state-of-the-art refreshment room and two retiring rooms at Danapur station. A spacious waiting hall for sleeper class passengers would also be constructed outside the station. Railway has already built a VIP lounge at the station, Jha said.

Under the new plan, railways would build a separate building to house the present passenger reservation system (PRS) building at the west end of the station. Besides, railways has no option than to develop Danapur station where there is enough space to carry out development plan, Jha said, adding that Patna Junction and Rajendra Nagar Terminal are already saturated from traffic operation or maintenance of coaches point of view. Thus, Danapur station could be developed as the next terminal of the division to fulfil the operational needs of railways, Jha said.