Title - Nightmare on tracks

Guwahati : Kamrup Express earned a distinction of sorts today when it chugged into Guwahati station at 2.55pm.It was the first train to arrive from outside the state at the station since yesterday, its coaches full of exhausted passengers. Had it been on time, the train would have reached yesterday at 4pm.Uday Kumar Gogoi’s eyes appeared to betray envy as he watched passengers get off at Guwahati; he still had, literally, miles to go before he would reach home at Duliajan and sleep in the comfort of his bed.“I just can’t take it anymore,” he said. “The pain is not just physical... after all, Indian Railways is not really known for its punctuality and I have faced such situations before. The ordeal this time to a great extent was mental... there was a sense of fear in all of us as we kept receiving calls about the violence en route,” he said, relieved that he had left the worst of stretches behind.“Near Kokrajhar, some goons attacked the train with catapults. But fortunately we were not hurt,” he said. “We had also heard about Rajdhani Express bound for Guwahati being attacked by a mob,” he said adding that the fear was heightened by the absence of security personnel on the train.The riots in the BTAD areas have thrown train services into disarray since yesterday and forced the NFR to cancel several long distance trains (see chart) today. At 5pm, 15 trains were stranded at various locations in Assam and Bengal with nearly 14,000 passengers, NF Railway PRO S. Hajong said.

Railway minister Mukul Roy spoke to Union home minister P. Chidambaram and chief minister Tarun Gogoi today, pointing out the difficulties faced by the railways.

“When we were in Alipurduar where the train was stopped for several hours, we came to know that someone had called Kokrajhar district bandh. After leaving Alipurduar, it was stopped at Kamakhyaguri railway station . The passengers complained at the station that there was no facility for drinking water and food. Then some members of a local NGO distributed milk among the children. The train returned to another station and we waited there for hours. The lights went out, mosquitoes swarmed all over us, stinging with all their might. We were dependent on whatever food was provided inside the train,” Gogoi said.

Rajib Barua, who was travelling in air-conditioned coach, said the heat at times became unbearable as the air-conditioning was switched off. “There was no water in the toilets either,” he said.

Some passengers going to Delhi on Rajdhani Express switched over to Kamrup Express after it was made known that the train to the national capital would not proceed further. “No point waiting for the Rajdhani to resume its journey...nobody, not even the railway officials, are sure. It is better to return home and wait for the situation to improve or think of flying,” said Anup Agarwal of Dimapur.

The government had first advised the railways to stop running of trains yesterday morning. Late in the evening, it waved the green flag, only to bring out the red within a couple of hours, bringing the trains to a halt once again.

There was a surge of relief across trains as these started moving this morning once the government gave the go ahead. But the euphoria was shortlived as the trains were ordered to halt once again soon after, before being allowed to proceed again later.

There was so much uncertainty about the movement of trains that 11 students of Delhi Public School, Guwahati, travelling by Kanchenjungha Express from Howrah, got off at Shamuktala this morning to go back to New Jalpaiguri to return to Guwahati by flight from Bagdogra. The students, comprising their school's basketball team, had gone to participate in a tournament in Calcutta.

The railway minister apprised Chidambaram and Gogoi of the difficulties being faced by the railways in ensuring safe and smooth movement of trains to and from Assam. He emphasised that the safety and security of the passengers was of primary concern and the movement of passenger trains in the affected areas will be governed accordingly. He sought security to ensure smooth and safe movement of trains in the region.

Roy said the Railways was trying its best to regulate the train movement in view of the disturbances but requested adequate security, especially on the 54km stretch between Srirampur and Salakati stations so that the trains stranded for more than 24 hours could move to their respective destinations. He said they were making efforts to provide stranded passengers with food, water and security.

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