Patna–Digha Ghat line

Patna–Digha Ghat line was a railway line connecting Patna Junction and Digha Ghat railway station in the Indian city of Patna. It was constructed by the British in 1862, and functioned intermittently. The railway line was revived in 1962–63 and 2004 by the then Indian Railway Ministers, Jagjivan Ram and Lalu Prasad Yadav, respectively. Passenger train operations on the route were economically unviable due to low ridership. However, trains continued to run on the railway line in order to prevent encroachment.^[a]

Patna–Digha Ghat line
Overview
Status	Closed
Owner	Indian Railways
Locale	Patna
Termini	R-Block Digha Ghat railway station
Stations	6
Service
Type	Commuter rail
Train number(s)	73213, 73214, 73215, 73216
Operator(s)	East Central Railway
Rolling stock	Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU)
History
Opened	1862
Closed	2018
Technical
Number of tracks	1
Character	At-grade street running
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge
Electrification	No
Operating speed	20 km/h (12 mph)
Patna–Digha Ghat line Legend km 8 Digha Ghat 6 Rajiv Nagar 4 Shivpuri 3.4 Punaichak 3 Bailey Road 2 Old Sachdeva 1 R Block Patna–Mughalsarai section of Howrah–Delhi main line to Patna–Gaya line 0 Patna Junction Asansol–Patna section of Howrah–Delhi main line

In August 2018, the railway line along with the surrounding land was transferred to the Bihar state government, which plans to convert it into a four- to six-lane roadway to ease traffic congestion in the city. The project is scheduled to be completed by mid-2021.^[2][3] Indian Railways got around 1.9-hectare (4.8-acre) of land on Hardinge Road from Bihar government in lieu of the 7 km long Patna–Digha Ghat line land it offered to the latter for the construction of R-Block-Digha Road.^[4]

History

The Patna Junction–Digha Ghat rail track was laid in 1862 during the British Raj.^[5] The railway line was constructed to ease the transportation of leather items and footwear products to and from the Bata factory situated at Digha.^[6]

The railway line was revived in 1962–63 by Jagjivan Ram, the then railway minister of India, citing the historical importance of the line. The passenger train service continued until 1974, with goods trains running on the railway line until the early 1990s.^[7][8] Subsequently, the track remained non–functional until July 2004^[9] when the Minister of Railways, Lalu Prasad Yadav, restarted the shuttle-train service along the line.^[10][11]

Route

The Patna–Digha Ghat railway line is 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) long.^[10] It runs from Patna Junction railway station to Digha Ghat railway station, passing through the five railway stations (Rajiv Nagar, Shivpuri, Punaichak, Bailey Road and Secretariat) and the busy road-intersection of Hartali Mor on the way.^[5] The railway line is within the East Central Railway zone of the Indian Railways and is among the oldest rail lines in the zone.^[12]

Operations

Historically, the railway line has been used to transport raw materials to the Bata factory at Digha and finished leather goods from the factory to different locations.^[6] After independence, the railway track was used to provide connectivity to the Food Corporation of India godown in Digha.^[13]

Following the revival of the railway track in 1962–63, a seven-coach passenger train powered by a steam engine was used to move passengers from Patna to Digha in the morning and from Digha to Patna in the evening. Flooding of the railway track in 1975 led to the railway line becoming non–operational.^[7] In July 2004, then Railway Minister of India Lalu Prasad Yadav inaugurated a Diesel multiple unit (DMU) train service named Shaheed Express on the revived Patna–Digha Ghat line from the R–Block halt railway station. The DMU train service was introduced in order to reduce traffic congestion on city roads.^[14]

Problems and closing

The trains on the route ran during peak hours, which caused traffic-jams when they passed through the railway crossings at the busy Hartali Mor intersection.^[5] As of 2017, Indian Railways incurred a loss of about ₹6 lakhs (US$9,000) per month operating train on the track, with the ticket-sales bringing in only around ₹7,800 ($110) per month.^[15] However, despite the operational losses, fear of encroachment on the railway track and the approximately 71 acres (29 ha) of land around it led Indian Railways to continue running trains on the line.^[5][12]

In 2009–10, the Bihar state government proposed converting the Patna–Digha Ghat railway line into a roadway that would reduce traffic-congestion in the city. The railway ministry asked for ₹896 crores ($127 million) as value for the land it owned, and after the intervention of the Patna High Court, a transfer-price of ₹222 crores ($32 million) was agreed upon.^[16][3] On 14 June 2018, the Ministry of Railways gave in-principle approval for the plan,^[17] and on August 12 the land was formally transferred in a ceremony attended by railway minister Piyush Goyal and chief-minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. The state government plans to build a four- to six-lane, 40 m wide, road along the 8 km route, including a flyover and an underpass. The construction for the project is expected to begin by January 2019, and be completed by mid-2021.^[3]

See also

• Patna Metro
• Hardinge Park
• Patna–Gaya line
• Patna–Mughalsarai section

Notes

1. As of 2016^[update], about 880 ha of land belonging to Indian Railways was under encroachment, either by temporary squatters, shacks or slum-dwellings, or by more permanent structures that had been built upon it.^[1]

References

1. "Railway land management module to tackle encroachment menace". Live Mint. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
2. "Bihar government begins groundwork for construction of 4-lane road". The Times of India. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
3. Bhelari, Amit (13 August 2018). "Railway land handover cheer for state & city". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
4. "Double-discharge platforms to come up in Patna soon: East Central Railway".
5. Amit Bhelari (23 April 2016). "Patna train runs on fear – Loss of Rs 16000 a day to keep land encroachers at bay". The Telegraph. Patna. from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
6. "Decks cleared for e-way on Digha rail line in city". The Times of India. Patna. 15 June 2018. from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
7. Kumod Verma (11 July 2004). "Patna-Digha train service from Sunday". The Times of India. Danapur. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
8. Kumud Verma (12 July 2004). "Old-timers enthused by train revival". The Times of India. Patna. from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
9. "R Block-Digha Railroad, now a history!".
10. Subhash Pathak (16 June 2018). "RCD gears up to begin work on Digha–R block exitway". Hindustan Times. Patna. Retrieved 17 June 2018.^{[dead link]}
11. Kumod Verma (5 July 2011). "Rly tracks on R-Block-Digha Ghat route unsafe". The Times of India. Patna. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
12. Rajesh Kumar Thakur (15 June 2018). "Railways agrees to transfer Digha track for 4–lane road". Hindustan Times. Patna. Retrieved 19 June 2018.^{[dead link]}
13. "बंद होगा अंग्रेजों के जमाने का पटना घाट-दीघा घाट रेलखंड". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Patna. 9 September 2017. from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
14. Kumod Verma (12 July 2004). "Patna-Digha train revived". The Times of India. Patna. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
15. Nishant Sinha (19 January 2018). "Train route plot price hurdle". The Telegraph. Patna. from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
16. Nishant Sinha (1 September 2017). "Patna-Digha train on uneven keel". The Telegraph. from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
17. "Railway nod spells cheer for traffic". The Telegraph. Patna. 15 June 2018. from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.