Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) The normal train services on the repaired railways track along the New Farakka Line in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district have finally become normal on Saturday night after continued disruption for more than 65 hours following a landslide along the railway tracks there two days ago.
The repair work for the damaged railways tracks because of the landslide started since Thursday.
However, the repair works were hindered to a great extent because of the two related hindrance factors of incessant rainfall in the area making the soil at the repair site unstable and waterlogged.
Finally on Saturday morning the repair works were completed to a satisfactory level and thereafter the trial run started.
The train run was completed successfully by Saturday evening following which the railway’s technical officers found the track to be fit for resuming normal train services.
An officer of the Indian Railway confirmed that normal train services have resumed on the New Farakka line reestablishing railways connections between South Bengal and North Bengal.
Since Thursday, several long-distance trains connecting South Bengal and North Bengal were cancelled. The routes of many of the trains were also diverted.
There has been no fresh rainfall in the area since Saturday morning.
A ‘power block’ was implemented on Saturday to expedite repair work, as it was the only way to remove the collapsed railway tracks and carry out the necessary repairs.
Consequently, repair work near New Farakka station progressed rapidly.
Later on Saturday, the Railways conducted a trial run on the line.
Work on repairing the overhead wires commenced immediately after the successful trial run and was completed smoothly by late Saturday afternoon.
Shivram Maji, the Chief Public Relations Officer of Eastern Railway, said that train services on the line have since returned to normal.
“During any natural disaster, the top priorities of the Indian Railways are ensuring passenger safety, quick restoration of services, and providing assistance to affected passengers,” he added.
Eastern Railway officers claimed that the officers and staff engaged in the track repair process had done a commendable job considering the two related hindrance factors that incessant rainfall in the area hampered the repair progress, as the soil at the repair site remained unstable and waterlogged.
The disruption also led to a sharp increase in demand for private bus services between Kolkata and Siliguri, with fares reportedly rising from around Rs 1,500 on normal days to between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 over the past few days.
–IANS
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