RK Burman, the railway station manager of Rajnandgaon, says that many daily commuters come to inquire about trains often.
It looks like the passenger train crisis in the state of Chhattisgarh is likely to linger for a little longer. As many trains continue to stay cancelled to facilitate the movement of coal in the middle of the power crisis, it has become a cause for concern for the population in the state.
Along with many long-distance trains, local trains have also been cancelled. For the third consecutive month, local trains of the Dongargarh Raipur route, which carries roughly 2000 passengers daily, have been cancelled. Students, local businessmen and job holders, who commute daily by these trains are among the most affected by these cancellations. In the middle of all this, the Railways has once again issued an order to cancel 34 trains till July 9.
These trains also include local trains passing through Rajnandgaon and Dongargarh. While the train crisis enters its third month, if the coal situation in different parts of the country does not improve soon enough, the cancellation of trains may even extend further.
For all the 2000 passengers, who are used to travelling by local trains daily from Rajnandgaon and Dongargarh stations, these trains have been the only way to reach Raipur and Bilaspur, but now they are being forced to go for other inconvenient as well as not so cheap modes of transport.
RK Burman, the railway station manager of Rajnandgaon, says that many daily commuters come to inquire about trains often and the daily wage earners, who travel to nearby cities, are the worst affected.
Domestic coal in India is mainly transported from coal-rich states such as Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh to different parts of the country.
