GUWAHATI:
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), on June 29, said that two special trains will run between Silchar and New Haflong and Guwahati and Langting to facilitate the movement of passengers in the hill section from June 30 to July 14.
The Silchar-New Haflong Special will depart from Silchar at 7:20 am and reach New Haflong at 11:30 am, while the New Haflong-Silchar Special will depart from New Haflong at 3:30 pm and reach Silchar at 8:30 pm.
During the journey, the special train will stop at Badarpur, Sukritipur, Hilara, Bihara, Chandranathpur, Damcherra, Bandarkhal, Ditokcherra, New Harangajao and Jatinga Lumpur stations.
“The special train will consist of 11 coaches. There will be two seating cum luggage coaches, three general seating, two non-AC Chair Car and four Sleeper Class coaches,” the NFR spokesperson said.
The Guwahati-Langting Special will depart from Guwahati at 8:15 am and reach Langting at 12:45 pm, and the Langting-Guwahati Special will depart from Langting at 2:05 pm and reach Guwahati at 8 pm. However, the Guwahati-Langting-Guwahati special train will not run on Saturdays, the NFR spokesperson informed.
During its journey, the special train will stop at Jagiroad, Chaparmukh, Hojai, Lanka, Lumding, Manderdisa, Hatikhali and Dibolong stations. The special train will consist of seven coaches and there will be one seating cum luggage coach and six general seating coaches.
The train service in the Lumding-Badarpur BG Line has been suspended from May 11 as railway tracks in 53 locations have been damaged due to rains and massive landslides. Around 85 km of railway track in the Lumding-Badarpur hill section of Lumding division were badly affected due to landslides. Breaches had occurred at more than 61 locations, resulting in disruption of the rail communication to Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and parts of Assam’s Barak Valley.
Even as the NF Railway authorities have assured Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of resuming train service from June 16, they could not keep their word as restoration works have been pending in many locations due to rainfall and landslides. Finally, the railway authorities said that the train service in this section may resume from July 16.