So I hear that after more than six years the legendary Dhanbad Chandrapura passenger will be back for the expected rush during the Durga Puja. The main reason however is the approaching LS 2024 elections, everybody is aware of that.
However when I looked at the proposed time table, I was dumbfounded at the absolute stupidity of the TT:-
A departure from Dhanbad side after 7 is a waste of time in my opinion.
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are no prospective connecting trains at Dhanbad, Rajdhani passengers won't be travelling in the DC passenger for sure....
Rather this train should have been towards Dhanbad side in the morning where the actual demand lies just like the MCD passenger used to run...
And what's with running this train only twice a day, it should have been run six times at the very least....
Early morning departure from DHN
Morning arrival at DHN
Afternoon departure from DHN
Evening arrival at DHN
Evening departure from DHN
Night arrival at DHN

Some other trains that may be considered is a prospective ASN-CRP MEMU via DC line. Post BD and until ASN-GAYA, there is no proper train connectivity between ASN-DHN. A departure after and before BD can serve as a train connection for the people living in the coal belt.

Also a new train to TATA via BKSC,PRR will be much welcome imo!

The passenger service to HTE needs to brought back imho!

Finally, DHN needs a proper political representative else it will absolutely go down the drain...

Presenting a few snaps of Sijua station captured during the Puja holidays.
Sijua was a very important station on the now abadoned Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway line. From Dhanbad to Sijua the Dc line was a bidirectional FEDL, barring a small section between Kusunda and Basseria Block Halt, from Sijua onwards it used to be bidrectional FESL towards Katrasgarh side!
Note that the signs of inactivity are clearly showing.
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entire premise now lies abandoned and desolate, what was once abuzz with life with the cachophony of trains and passengers alive now lies like a ghost station!
Even the station staff have been transferred and barring a isolated cow, no living beings can usually be spotted anywhere in the vicinity of this once lively station............
Anyways the OHE are still energised, the signals still active and an ocassional freight train still uses this line......
Hope you guys enjoy and appreciate the pictures!
Camera used :- Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
Picture Source :- Self
Station tagged :- Sijua SJA, Dhanbad DHN, Katrasgarh KTH and Chandrapura CRP
Picture 1 :- Tracks going towards Katrasgrah side
Picture 2& 3 :- Overlooking platform number 1 & 2
Picture 4,5 & 6 :- The once active lines that would shine are now covered up in rust!
Picture 7 :- Main building
Picture 8 :- Railway overbridge
Picture 9 :- Again rust covered lines.
Pictured in 10-15 :- An ancient weighing machine dating back to the British rule giving an idea of the historical importance of this line. You will also notice the bell and gong for notifying the arrival and departure timings of the trains.The timetable notifying the arrival and departure timings of now closed DHN-CRP , DHN-MURI & DHN-JGM MEMU! Also shown is the fare chart and some motivational quotations.
Picture 16 :- The now abadoned Porter Goomty.
Picture 17 :- Another shot of the rusted lines.....................
P.S :- A simple look at this stations is enough to guess how Indian railways were during British times! Visting this stations are a step taken back in history as the entire station complex is of British build and has undergone very little change over time!
If only IR turned this fantastic station buildings into railway museums as they are definitely worth preserving!
Finally, Rest in Peace, DC Line, Thee served well!
Arnab

कतरास (Katras) के रेलवे आंदोलन कारी राजेंद्र प्रसाद ने धनबाद-चंद्रपुरा सवारी गाड़ी सहित इस रूट की बंद 26 जोड़ी ट्रेनों का परिचालन दोबारा शुरू कराने व कतरास में उनका ठहराव कराने की मांग की है. वह 15 जून को धनबाद-करास-चद्रपुरा रेललाइन की बंदी की याद में कतरासगढ़ रेलवे स्टेशन पर आयोजित कार्यक्रम में बोल रहे थे. इस मौके पर बंद ट्रेनों का परिचालन दोबारा शुरू कराने के लिए पूर्व-मध्य रेलवे जोन के महाप्रबंधक व धनबाद डिवीजन के डीआरएम को ज्ञापन सौंपने का निर्णय लिया गया. आंदोलनकारियों के जुटान को देखते हुए रेलवे ने स्टेशन पर बड़ी संख्या में आरपीएफ जवानों की तैनाती की थी.

ज्ञात...
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हो कि रेल मंत्रालय ने आग से खतरे का हवाला देते हुए 15 जून 2017 को धनबाद-चंद्रपुरा रेल लाइन को ब्लॉक करते हुए इस रूट पर ट्रेनों का परिचालन बंद कर दिया था. इसके विरोध में 20 माह 10 दिन तक चले अहिंसात्मक आंदोलन के बाद डीसी लाइन पर ट्रेनों का परिचालन पुनः चालू कर दिया गया था. इसके बाद से आंदोलनकारी रेल लाइन बंदी की याद में हर साल 15 जून को काला दिवस के रूप में मनाते हैं. इस अवसर पर कतरासगढ़ स्टेशन पर गुरुवार को बड़ी संख्या में स्थानीय लोग व आंदोलनकारियों ने पहुंचकर आंदोलन की याद ताजा की. अशोक लाल ने डीसी सवारी गाड़ी सहित इस रूट से गुजरने वाली सभी ट्रेनों का ठहराव कतरासगढ़ में कराने और स्टेशन के विकास की मांग की. मौके पर रेल आंदोलनकारी निमाई मुखर्जी, उमेश ॠषि, एस खान, उदय प्रसाद वर्मा, नरेश दास, शौकत खान, सच्चिदानंद सिंह, परवेज इक़बाल, मुख्तार अंसारी आदि मौजूद थे.

THE CLOSURE :- PART 1...
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Saying that the former Dhanbad Chandrapura line was an integral part of my childhood, would be an understatement...
From my earlier instances of remembrances involving the black & white smoke spewing, gigantic black steam engines to the thunderous Patratu and Bokaro WDMs ruling the roost, till...
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the final days of electrification where Mughalsarai and Tata WAMs used to be calling the shots....
From my early childhood, I had developed an affinity for the railways by listening to the tales of my Grandfather from his days as a Guard in the Eastern Railways....
My first memories of the DC line involve the then Dhanbad-Bokaro passenger, those memories are extremely hazy, but the DC passengers was one of the last trains back then, that used to be still hauled by the steam engines, the other train that I can somehow recall having a limited steam haulage was the Asansol-Dhanbad-Bhojudih passenger that would have an electric service from ASN to DHN and then change over to steam traction....
Those were the last days of steam engines, most steam engines relegated for pushing duties at the back of freights which were mostly hauled by electric/diesels locomotives....
Though the visual inputs of the steam engines are mostly fuzzy now, owing to my extremely low age ( I was barely 3-4 then), I vividly remember how they felt....
Steam engines were hugely intriguing, fistly they were gigantic, whenever they used pass by the tracks would shake like crazy, secondly you would have a strange feeling of being overcome by first dust and then by a amazing feeling of wetness... The chronology of events could have also happened in reverse, as I am recalling this events out of my infancy, hence the exact order of events may be wrong.....
Steam engines also had this amazing variation in the amount of smoke that would come out of their chimneys....when the engines started or used to proceed at a crawling pace, the amount of black smoke superseded the amount of white smoke, when the train would be at a good speed however, the white smoke would be predominant.....
However to myself, barely in the post infancy stage, it was the third white smoke outlet, the one that would shoot out white fumes while the shrill whistle would be sounded....
The shrill pitch of those gigantic external combustion engines were soon replaced by the lower pitched boring WDMs and WAMs.... while the steam engines screamed excitement and adventure, the bland sounding diesels and electrics screamed reliability....
They may not be the most efficient locomotives but 'By Jove' they were reliable....
The period that I am next talking about involves the end of the last millenia...
The Kargil War had just ended...Donation camps and relief centres would be set up at an exponential pace to help the families of the martyrs and the injured soldiers....
The Gaisal train accident would be a major catastrophe before the Kargil war...two diesel hauled trains colliding each other at around 90kmph and setting off a disaster that would claim nearly a thousand lives....
Then came the Odisha supercyclone..... I remember a paper cutting that quoted a survivor who had just quoted, " Water, water everywhere....but not a drop to drink!"....
Those were difficult times.....
The advent of the new millenia brought many changes....
Our country started growing in leaps and bounds and from being an aid-dependent country, we started giving aid, our journey took us from the fragile five to being the fastest growing major economy in the world....
The HWH-MGS main line, the DC line and a plethora of other lines were getting electrified signalling the end of the diesel dominance...
Then came 'Project Uniguage' which kick-started the end of several metre guages and narrow guages......
It is amazing how I was able to recollect some many changes that have occurred in the last twenty_twenty-two years just by being in a pensive mood...just imagine the history that had been witnessed by a railway line that had existed for around 130 years.....

It is amazing how abruptly and how prematurely the Dhanbad-Jharia and the Dhanbad-Chandrapura lines were despatched to the gallows without giving any viable alternatives to the lakhs of people that were affected by it....
I am in now way advocating the restarting of the ill-fated railway line, it just pains me how haphazardly it was done....
The railways had plenty of time to look for any alternative but they didn't...
Coal India had plenty of oppurtunities to rectify their wrongdoings but they didn't.....
It's amazing how small mistakes tend to a cumulative catastrophe....
Rest assured, there will be an alternative line some day, new stories are inscribed in the pages of history everyday, everyday is a new beginning and newer breakthroughs do happen everyday....
But the DC line that formed such an integral part of my childhood, gave me so many wonderful memories will be missed...........
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Featured are some of the pictures of my last journey onboard the now extinct
53340 Chandrapura-Dhanbad passenger from Katrasgarh to Dhanbad station....
The pictures have all been uploaded with a lateral shift of 90 degrees which I have been unable to rectify, however please do enjoy all of these pictures as these pictures are a part of our chequered railway history...
I know it's been a while since the line has closed, but it has taken me this long to come to terms with it's demise....
PICTURES 1-3 :- These show some stretches of the Banjora-Baseria stretch which was one of the worst affected sections. If you download and observe the picture, you will realise how close the fires had come to the tracks... However the worst affected part was near the Angarpathra halt on the Katrasgarh-Sijua section where fire had been discovered under the tracks.
PICTURES 4-10 :- Shows the Kusunda marshalling yard in it's full glory. This yard has also breathed it's last.
PICTURES 11-14 :- Shows the Kusunda station built during colonial times in it's full glory..... Notice the obvious British architecture....
PICTURES 15-16 :- Onwards towards Dhanbad...
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PS:- PART-2 WILL COME UP SHORTLY
Arnab