Title - Trains running late due to Bodoland stir

KATIHAR: The long distance train commuters, particularly for destinations like New Delhi, Punjab and down southern India, are a harassed lot due to inordinately late running of trains which originate from Guwahati and pass through Katihar division in North-East Frontier Railway (NF Railway), and further Bihar.Practically all the trains originating from Guwahati are not sticking to their time schedule. The train services have been thrown in disarray due to the ongoing stir for the creation of Bodoland state in the north-east India, according to railway officials.Even New Delhi-bound highly prestigious Rajdhani Express has not been maintaining its time schedule, and is generally 8 to 10 hours behind schedule every day. Sometimes, it has been running as late as by 14 to 16 hours. The south-bound trains, too, are greatly affected so are also the trains for Punjab, Gujarat and Mumbai, railway sources say.

"It was a great ordeal for all of us. My brother had booked tickets in advance for Delhi in New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express. But, the train reached only early morning the next day, 16 hours behind the schedule," said Manish Duggar, who went to see them off at the station .

"It was only for the Internet that we were spared the nightmarish experience of waiting on the platform," he added. But, the million dollar question is how many travelers have access to Internet, and more pertinently, can the travelers reply upon the railway enquiry system which is mostly dysfunctional, particularly during night hours, ask the train passengers.

Ever since parts of Assam has been on boil over demand for creation of Bodoland, train services, touching Guwahati are in a state of topsy-turvy.

Katihar divisional railway manager ( DRM ) Arun Kumar, talking to TOI on Thursday, admitted the fact that the trains, originating from Guwahati in NF Railways, running hours behind schedule. He said railway authorities are desperately trying to maintain time schedule or minimize the late running hours.