Parliament Question: Revised Route of Radhikapur-Anand Vihar Express

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4000 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 REVISED ROUTE OF RADHIKAPUR-ANAND VIHAR EXPRESS 4000. SHRI KARTICK CHANDRA PAUL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the widespread dissatisfaction among residents of North Dinajpur district regarding the revised route of the Radhikapur-Anand Vihar Express which now bypasses key stops like Patna, Mughal Sarai (Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay), Allahabad (Prayagraj) and Kanpur and if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of the reasons for revising the route of the Radhikapur-Anand Vihar Express resulting in increase in journey time from 25 hours to 32 hours; (c) whether the Government is considering the reintroduction of the previous route of the Radhikapur-Anand Vihar Simanchal Express or the restoration of the original stops to meet the demands of local residents and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the details of the steps being taken to ensure that the new route adequately serves the needs of residents relying on this train for education, trade, healthcare and work opportunities in Delhi? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d) A Link service between Radhikapur and Anand Vihar(T) viz. 22487/22488 Radhikapur- Anand Vihar(T) Seemanchal Link Express used to operate by getting attached/detached with 12487/12488 Jogbani- Anand Vihar(T) Seemanchal Express at Katihar. Page 1 of 3 §On Indian Railways (IR) safety is accorded highest priority. In light of this and in the interest of safety of passengers, IR decided to discontinue Slip Coaches/Link trains as it involved shunting with passengers on board. Accordingly, the said link train operating between Radhikapur and Anand Vihar(T) i.e. 22487/22488 Radhikapur- Anand Vihar(T) Seemanchal Link Express have been discontinued. To provide a direct train between Radhikapur and Delhi, a new train viz. 14011/14012 Radhikapur-Anand Vihar(T) Express (via Katihar-Barauni- Gorakhpur) has been introduced w.e.f. 06.10.2024. 12487/12488 Jogbani- Anand Vihar(T) Seemanchal Express continues to run on its original route via Katihar- Barauni- Patliputra- Prayagraj- Kanpur and passengers of Radhikapur-Katihar sector may also avail this service from Katihar. Presently, Radhikapur-Katihar sector is served by the following 4 pairs of trains: SN Train No. and Name 1 14011/14012 Radhikapur-Anand Vihar (T) Express 2 55707/55708 Radhikapur-Katihar Passenger 3 55727/55728 Katihar-Radhikapur Passenger 4 55729/55730 Katihar-Radhikapur DEMU Further, at present, Radhikapur is served by 10 pairs of trains. These are listed below: SN Train No. and Name 1 13053/13054 Howrah-Radhikapur Express 2 14011/14012 Radhikapur-Anand Vihar (T) Express 3 13145/13146 Kolkata-Radhikapur Express 4 16223/16224 SMVT Bengaluru-Radhikapur Express 5 55707/55708 Radhikapur-Katihar Passenger Page 2 of 36 75707/75708 Radhikapur-Siliguri DEMU 7 75751/75752 Telta-Radhikapur DEMU 8 55729/55730 Katihar-Radhikapur DEMU 9 55727/55728 Katihar-Radhikapur Passenger 10 75705/75706 Radhikapur-Siliguri Passenger Besides, introduction of new train services and rationalisation of train services, is an on-going process, which depends on various factors including- • Capacity of that section • Availability of path • Availability of required rolling stock • Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock • Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets. • Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section. ***** Page 3 of 3