Resume op of 23 suspended trains, CM urges railway min

Raipur:

Chhattisgarh

chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has urged Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to

resume

the operation of 23 trains that have been suspended for a month. Threatening to block the coal transportation of railways from Chhattisgarh, the state Congress committee on Tuesday staged a protest at the divisional railway manager’s (DRM) office in Raipur.“Baghel urged railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav over phone, to withdraw the decision to suspend operations of 23 trains passing through Chhattisgarh, for a month as it was largely affecting the people in state. He said that people were facing difficulties in commuting,” chief minister’s office tweeted.The railway minister assured of taking a suitable decision in the matter, said another tweet.Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president Mohan

Markam

threatened to block coal transportation in goods trains from the state if the Railways did not restore the cancelled passenger train services. South East Central Railways (SECR) has cancelled 23 express and passenger trains in Chhattisgarh for a month from April 24.Markam and other Congress workers gathered at the DRM office and submitted a memorandum to the officer to resume their operations otherwise, the goods wagons carrying coal will be blocked by party workers, affecting the supply of coal across the country.Markam alleged that the centre has “created artificial shortage of coal and electricity and in order to escalate the supply of coal via Chhattisgarh, it has suspended 23 trains on the pretext of upgrading the tracks, but it is directly impacting lives of common people.”The protestors said that people have to use passenger buses that are running full and are struggling to reserve seats.Earlier, the state government had written a letter to the Railway Board chairperson and chief executive officer raising objection against the decision.