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 in Patna.

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.

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.

"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.