Title - Maoist fear looms on trial run of goods train

DALTONGANJ: Long-haul goods train consisting of 116 wagons is on a trial run here between Garhwa Road and Mughalsarai junction on the dedicated freight corridor (DFC), railway officials here said.

The trial run of the goods train began in January 2011 with intermittent breaks to explore the impediments in running such a long train in the Left wing extremist-hit areas where a train is regulated or its route diverted whenever a bandh is called by the Maoists. Palamu has a history of trains getting hijacked on the Coal India Chord section under Dhanbad railway division.

The railway officials fear Maoists more than anything else and if this long-haul train is stopped at any station during the trial, it will be difficult for the railway police to protect it because of its length and distance between the engine crew cabin and guard cabin.

Traffic inspector (Eastern Central Railway) Arvind Kumar Sinha said the trial run had shown positive results but had also raised some issues to be improved upon.

"For a long-haul goods train, loop line is a must after every 50 km for a trouble-free passage of trains," Sinha said. "Chances of accident too may come down. But in case accident occurs involving the long-haul train, the impact will be enormous because of the huge number of wagons."

The DFC is a project to increase the run of the goods train at minimum time and utilizing increased number of wagons. The normal length of any goods train is 58 wagons having a total carrying capacity of 4,500 tonnes, said Sinha adding in the long-haul goods train the capacity is 9,000 tonnes.

The Centre is determined to have the East-West DFC ready in another five years from now which will link Palamu too. The DFC between Ludhiana and Dankuni near Howrah is ready, Sinha said. The East-West DFC, when ready, will be of 3,338 km, he added. Work on laying of railway tracks, especially for the long-haul goods train is on between Bihar's Dehri On Sone and Mughalsarai.