Title - Two incidents in 4 days raise questions on passengers’ safety

Jammu:
Second incident of landslide on railway tracks within four days has raised a big question mark on the safety of passengers travelling on the hilly terrain.Due to the overnight heavy rainfall for 48 hours, a major landslide occurred near Tunnel-16 between Manwal and Ramnagar yesterday. Though no loss of life was reported, the track and the tunnel got damaged badly, which will take more than two days to get restored.This was the second such incident within four days. On August 2, the Hemkunt Express got derailed at Samba due to heavy rainfall.These two incidents have developed fear among passengers to travel in train during the monsoon.Subash Chander from Delhi, who was waiting for his train at the Jammu Railway station along with his family, said, “I have read the news of the incident which happened yesterday. Though we have to travel as our tickets are confirmed, a fear is also travelling with us” .

“The railway should check all the tracks regularly, especially during the monsoon when landslides are expected,” he added.

Another passenger, Supriya Sharma from Pune, said, “The Railways should take strong steps to make the track safe for passengers”.

Farooq Andrabi, Chief Officer Superintendent, Traffic, said, “It was a natural calamity. No one can predict anything, but the engineering team is doing their best to make the track safe for the passengers”.

“Passengers’ safety is the first priority of the Railways, as it is the world’s second largest railways,” he added.

The Jammu-Udhampur Railway track remained closed to traffic on the second consecutive day after the landslide destroyed the track near Tunnel-16 (T-16) between Manwal and Ramnagar.

However, railway officials said the traffic would remain suspended on the track linking the Northern Command of the Army based in Udhampur with the rest of the country till the restoration of track will be completed.

Andrabi said, “The work is in progress and the track will be restored by Friday. All the trains for Udhampur from Jammu have been cancelled, but the rail traffic to the rest of the country is through”.

There are seven trains for Udhampur from Jammu, Malwa Express, Jammu Mail, Uttar Sampark Kranti, Summer Special and three DMUs. All these train have been affected due to the landslide.

This line is an important link for Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (JUSBRL) Project to connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.