Lalu's legal and illegal rail halts under scanner in Bihar

GOING OFF TRACK: Railway Board reviews halts created during Lalu's stint as Rail Minister.

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Patna: After being halted in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections in Bihar, Lalu Prasad is likely to face another setback with the Railway Board putting all the nearly 250 halts, including 100 unauthorised ones, created during his stint as Railway Minister, under scanner.

The Railway Board had asked the East Central Railway (Hajipur) to examine the economic viability of these halts and if found commercially unviable, to initiate steps to close them down, ECR's General Manager Girish Bhatnagar told PTI.

The halts, under five divisions of the ECR, are creating hurdles in the smooth running of the trains, Bhatnagar said.

"We have received a communication in this regard a week ago and have identified nearly three dozen such halts, which are generating almost negligible revenue," Bhatnagar said.

Bhatnagar, however, tried to downplay the Railway Board's move saying its decision had no relation with change of guard at the Rail Bhavan.

"Most of these halts have been opened on an experimental basis and the Railways review their viability every six months," he said.

The Railway Board had also asked the ECR authorities to withdraw stoppages of as many as 33 trains, including Howrah-Patna Janshatabdi Express, Rajgir-New Delhi Shramjeevi

Express and Toofan Express at smaller stations.

This again has nothing to do with the change as these stoppages have been introduced on trial basis and some during Kosi floods on humanitrian measure, he pointed out.

Against 89 stations in ECR's Danapur division, there are 140 halts and at least four-dozen illegal halts, while Samastipur division has 106 stations and 57 halts followed by Dhanbad division – 104 stations and 25 halts.

According to Railway officials, Mugalsarai division of the ECR has less than half-a-dozen halts, while the Sonepur division has less than two-dozen halts.