HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 28: The operation of passenger and goods carrying trains that got affected with effect from April 25 owing to derailments of an engine of a goods train was restored on April 26 at about 2:00 pm.
The derailment had occurred at KM 110/7 between Jatinga Lampur and New Harangajao Stations under the Lumding division of NFR. On receipt of the information of the derailment, senior official from the division as well as from the headquarters at Maligaon led by the general manager, Chetan Kumar Shrivastava immediately rushed to the site.
Divisional railway manager of Lumding divisions, Prem Ranjan Kumar was also there at the site. Adequate manpower and machineries were also arranged and reached the site for the restoration work. Assistance from the Indian Army was also provided in terms of 25 trucks and 100 personnels. The Indian Army team, led by Major Abhishek and his team from the Silchar unit, were stationed at Jatinga. They were ready to help the railway administration and passengers in case of any exigency.
The Indian Army stayed at the site till the last train passed on April 26. Although the restoration work continued round the clock, the weather condition in the hill was not favourable due to frequent rainfall. During the restoration work, land settlement was detected in that area for a track length of about 150 meters.
Ballasting was done in the affected portion by removing sleepers and rails. Then packing of ballast was done by using track machine to improve the stability. Senior officials at the site continued monitoring of the restoration works. Finally, the affected portion was given fit for the train operation at about 2 pm and the first train passed over the portion at about 4 pm.
More than 300 labours along with other technicians and 10 machines worked round the clock to restore the train service on that route that is vital not only for the entire South Assam areas, but also for states like Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. In view of frequent rainfall in the nearby hilly areas, the entire hill section from Lumding to Badarpur is being monitored day and night.
However, in view of the derailment and subsequent detection of settlement of track, the NFR authority has decided to impose restriction on train movement in Jatinga Lampur and New Haflong portion of the hill section with effect from April 27. Accordingly, there will be no train movement on that section from 18:00 hours to 06:00 hours temporarily for undertaking works related to safety of railway tracks. This restriction will result into cancellations and rescheduling of few trains, which will be notified time to time until full normalization of that section.
