TOI

Patna, Jun 1: An angry mob in Bihar torched a train and a station Monday to protest a new rail schedule that has trains skipping stops at their station, railway police said. No injuries were reported.

Television footage showed orange flames and black smoke billowing out of the train that was stopped just outside the Khusrupur train station.

Around 200 protesters set the train station on fire and pulled up train tracks, causing delays to dozens of trains, said senior railway police officer Rajender Singh.

The new schedule is the result of a political reshuffle following last month's national elections, with the new Railway minister Mamata Banerjee overturning the policy of the outgoing minister Lalu Yadav, a Bihar political strongman.

Yadav had major trains stopping at dozens of smaller stations in his home state.

The Railway Board had also asked the ECR authorities to withdraw stoppages of as many as 33 trains, including Howrah-Patna Janshatabdi Express, Rajgir-New Delhi Shramjeevi Express and Toofan Express at smaller stations.

The change angered Khusrupur residents who watched in vain as the Patna-Calcutta train sped by. Khusrupur is about 18 miles (30 kilometers) east of Patna, the capital of Bihar.

``That train did not stop there, so they went berserk and attacked the Dhanapur intercity express,'' Singh said.

Lalu Prasad, meanwhile, is likely to face another setback with the Railway Board putting all the nearly 250 halts, including 100 unauthorised ones, created during his stint as Railway minister, under scanner.

The Railway Board had asked the East Central Railway (Hajipur) to examine the economic viability of these halts and if found commercially unviable,to initiate steps to close them down, ECR's General Manager Girish Bhatnagar said here.

The halts, under five divisions of the ECR, are creating hurdles in the smooth running of the trains, Bhatnagar said.

"We have received a communication in this regard a week ago and have identified nearly three dozen such halts, which are generating almost negligible revenue," Bhatnagar said.

Bhatnagar, however, tried to downplay the Railway Board's move saying its decision had no relation with change of guard at the Rail Bhavan.

"Most of these halts have been opened on an experimental basis and the railways review their viability every six months," he said.

"This again has nothing to do with the change as these stoppages have been introduced on trial basis and some during Kosi floods on humanitarian measure," he pointed out.

Against 89 stations in ECR's Danapur division, there are 140 halts and at least four-dozen illegal halts, while Samastipur division has 106 stations and 57 halts followed by Dhanbad division — 104 stations and 25 halts.

According to Railway officials, Mugalsarai division of the ECR has less than half-a-dozen halts, while the Sonepur division, has less than two-dozen halts.

The mob also destroyed several electronic and other railway operation equipment and signal system, besides the ticket booking counter, Singh said.

Reinforcements were sent to Khusrupur station to control the situation, he said.

Senior railway and police officers have reached the spot and patrolling was intensified as tension ran high in the area, Singh added.