Title - Reverse run to clear stations

The railways have started emptying some of the trains stranded in north Bengal in the last two days and have instructed that these go back to their stations of origin, picking up passengers on the way in other parts of the state and Bihar.For example, the Assam-bound Kamrup Express from Howrah, which had been stranded at New Jalpaiguri, will run as a special train between NJP and Howrah, carrying passengers who had reserved seats from stations between NJP and Howrah.This is being done so that people in other parts of eastern and northeastern India do not stay stranded at stations because of unavailability of trains.Like in Bengal, in Assam, too, the Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail, stranded at Guwahati, will run between Guwahati and Dibrugarh, clearing the rush of passengers there.The Assam-bound trains that entered north Bengal today are all being allowed to move on to the neighbouring state.“Considering the present state of affairs and that thousands of passengers are stranded in different stations across north Bengal, Bihar and the Northeast, it has been decided to run a number of long-distance trains within Assam and north Bengal,” Nilanjan Deb, the public relation officer of the Northeast Frontier Railway, told The Telegraph over phone.“This will clear the rush of passengers in stations which are located outside the affected stretch between north Bengal and Assam. All these trains will run as special passenger trains,” he said.

“Though this system will not help Assam or north Bengal-bound passengers unless the train movement is restored between Bengal and Assam completely, it will prevent crowding at stations in Assam, Bengal and Bihar through which these trains pass,” a Northeast Frontier Railway source said.

“Once the train movement resumes, arrangements would be made for stranded passengers to reach their destinations in Assam and vice-versa.”

Although, the railways have not made any official announcement, the passengers stranded at stations in north Bengal are being accommodated in the trains that are crossing their stations today.

According to NFR sources, seven Assam-bound trains that were stranded in Bengal — the Northeast Express, Awadh-Assam Express, Brahmaputra Mail, Kanchenjungha Express, Saraighat Express, Capital Express and Kamrup Express —will run on the corresponding down routes from their stations.

In Assam, the Rajdhani, the Brahmaputra Mail, the Awadh Assam Express and the Amritsar Express — bound for Delhi and other destinations of the country — are being run between Guwahati and Dibrugarh, a railway source said.

Passengers sounded relieved when told about the move by the railways to send the trains on the reverse journey. “We had tickets in the Brahmaputra Mail for Delhi and were worried as no train has reached north Bengal from Assam in the past two days,” Ajoy Sethia, a Siliguri resident, said. “Yesterday, I learnt that the Brahmaputra Mail bound for Guwahati, which is stranded at NJP, will depart for New Delhi as a special train. This has helped us and several other passengers.”