Title - Speed restrictions for trains relaxed

More than two-and-a- half years after the derailment of the Jnaneswari Express in Paschim Medinipur district, restrictions on the speed of trains passing through the Maoist-affected Jangalmahal region at night have been relaxed, said Railway officials on Monday.The services had resumed in January 2012 but the speed of the trains in the Jangalmahal region was restricted to 70 km per hour when the normal was 110 km per hour prior to the derailment in May 2010.In all, 149 people were killed in the incident – a job of the Maoist-backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasdharaner Committee (also known as Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities).Union Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the permission to allow the trains to run at their usual speed was obtained only after intervention of the Union Home Ministry.“While it is being said that law and order has been restored in the Jangalmahal region, the speed of trains during night hours in the region was restricted. I wanted to remove the dichotomy and pursued the matter with police officials of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha,” Mr Chowdhury told The Hindu over telephone from Behrampore.The trains were running at a speed of 70 km per hour instead of 110 km per hour, he said, adding that the reduced speed was resulting in congestion along the route leading to inconvenience of passengers.  “While Odhisha and Jharkhand had cooperated with the Railways in this regard, West Bengal was a little reluctant,” Mr Chowdhury said.

Senior police officers of the State remained absent at the meeting called by the Railways to discuss the issue of lifting the speed restrictions, he said.

The speed restriction was imposed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. along the 135-km route from Kharagpur in West Bengal to Tatanagar in Jharkhand.