Bilaspur Zone Cancels 18 Trains for 19 Days, Passengers Face Heat

Maintenance work at Gondia station and ROB construction in Raipur division force route changes for 2 trains and short termination of 20 others, affecting travel to MP, Nagpur, and Jharkhand.

Passengers travelling across Madhya Pradesh, Nagpur, and Jharkhand are in for a rough patch over the next three weeks. The Bilaspur zone of the South East Central Railway (SECR) has cancelled 18 trains between May 3 and May 22. Officials confirmed that the cancellations are due to two major infrastructure projects—platform maintenance at Gondia and road-under-bridge (RUB) construction in the Raipur division.

The disruptions aren’t limited to cancellations. Railway sources added that 20 trains will be short-terminated during this period, while the routes of two express trains have been changed. The impact is expected to hit daily commuters the hardest, particularly those traveling from Raigarh, Korba, and Gevra Road to Bilaspur and Raipur.

Gondia Platform Work to Last 20 Days

The primary reason for the bulk of the disruptions is maintenance work on Platform Number 4 at Gondia station, which falls under the Nagpur division. According to railway officials, the down main line on this platform will remain closed for nearly 20 days.

Due to this, 10 express and passenger trains have been completely cancelled. Passengers holding tickets for trains passing through this section are advised to check their status before heading to the station, as queues have already started forming at the reservation counters in Balaghat and Itwari.

Nipania-Bhatapara Construction Adds to Woes

Simultaneously, the Raipur division is facing its own set of challenges. Construction of a road-underbridge in the Nipania-Bhatapara section has forced authorities to impose line blocks. This ongoing civil work has led to the cancellation of 8 passenger trains.

Local commuters are likely to be stranded, as these are short-distance trains heavily relied upon by daily wage workers and small-town traders. “The alternative bus services are overcrowded and expensive,” a passenger waiting at Raipur junction told local reporters, highlighting the ground-level chaos.

Route Changes for Rewa-Itwari Express

Two long-distance trains will operate on diverted routes. The 11754 Rewa-Itwari Express will not run via its old route (Jabalpur-Nainpur-Balaghat-Gondia-Itwari) on May 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 16, and 18. Instead of stopping at Balaghat and Gondia, it will now run via the Jabalpur-Nainpur-Chhindwara-Itwari route.

Similarly, the 11753 Itwari-Rewa Express has been diverted for eight specific dates in May. Passengers travelling to Balaghat or Gondia should note these changes, as their stations are no longer on the train’s path. Officials confirm that no additional stops have been added to the alternate route.

Short Terminations and Forward Plan

Trains like the Barauni-Gondia Express will now only run up to Durg until May 22. This partial cancellation has left many passengers from Jharkhand stranded at intermediate stations. While the railways cite safety and infrastructure upgrades as the necessity for these blocks, the lack of adequate bus connectivity is adding to the frustration.

These cancellations come just weeks after a similar disruption in April, when the same zone cancelled 14 trains due to track maintenance. With the monsoon season approaching, officials hint that more "precautionary blocks" might be taken next month, though specific dates have not been released yet. Passengers are advised to plan their journeys well in advance and check the NTES app for real-time updates.