Steel Superfast Express, the most popular train between Jamshedpur and Calcutta, will resume operation from Tuesday, September 7 after four months.

The office of South Eastern Railway's chief passenger transportation manager in Calcutta notified the resumption of the train service on Saturday.

“The decision for resuming the train service was taken keeping in view of the demand of passengers and declining cases of Covid -19. The train will run daily as per its schedule time. No alterations have been made in stoppages and composition of the train,” a railway spokesman told The Telegraph Online over phone from Garden Reach, Calcutta.

The superfast express, which will run as a special train, will depart from Tatanagar at 6.10 am and reach Howrah at 10.20 am, covering a distance of 250 Km. On its return to Jamshedpur, the train will leave Howrah at 5.25 pm and reach Tatanagar at 9.20 pm.

The train with 22 coaches will have stoppages at Rakhamines, Ghatshila, Chakulia, Jhargram, Kharagpur and Santragachi.

Rising cases of Covid-19 coupled with poor seat occupancy had prompted South Eastern Railway to withdraw the train in the first week of May this year.

Chhotanagpur Passenger Association welcomed the decision to resume services. " Passengers from Tatanagar desperately needed the resumption of train. Requests were pouring in from patients in need of advanced medical treatment in Calcutta-based hospitals, " said Arun Tiwari, general secretary of Chhotanagpur Passenger Association.

The senior functionary of the outfit, which works for welfare of passengers, had also recently sent a tweet to Union railway ministry, the Railway Board and South Eastern Railway, for resuming the train service.

SER collects Rs 3.45 crore in fines

During an intensive ticket checking drive South Eastern Railway collected penalty of Rs 3.45 crore during the month of August under its jurisdiction including two railway divisions in Jharkhand - Ranchi and Chakradharpur.

Statistics available from SER headquarters revealed that during the intensive drive carried out throughout the month at Tatanagar, Ranchi and other railway stations, a total number of 66,476 cases were detected travelling without ticket or with improper ticket and unbooked luggage and an amount of Rs 3,44,65,779 was realized as penalty.