RailEnquiry

Over 14,000 passengers travelling in 15 trains to and from Assam today waited at various stations, some for nearly 40 hours, as ethnic clashes continued in the neighbouring state and blocked all rail traffic to the Northeast.Almost all the 11 trains stuck in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts in north Bengal were halted yesterday afternoon. Till 9.30pm tonight, no train had rolled and it seemed unlikely that any would be allowed to enter Assam, given the explosive law and order situation there.The Northeast Frontier Railway, headquartered in Assam, has said it will not run trains in the section till the law and order situation improves in the four Bodo districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri. Four alleged arsonists were gunned down and five bodies were found in different places in Kokrajhar today taking the death toll to 29 in the riots.Railway officials said they tried to run services at least seven times between last night and this morning but had to halt after attacks on trains in Assam.Of the 11 trains bound for Assam are two Rajdhanis, one going to Dibrugarh, the other to Guwahati.Both the Rajdhani Expresses have been halted at New Cooch Behar to provide passengers with running water and food. Some Rajdhani passengers complained to the station manager about the lack of water and food on the train.A Rajdhani Express and the Secunderabad Express wait at the New Cooch Behar station on Tuesday morning. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Last night, a goods train was attacked at Gosaigaon in Assam after which the railways suspended services for the night. Around 8am today, the North East Express was stopped at Srirampur, a station in Assam close to the Bengal border. The train was brought back to Alipurduar station in Jalpaiguri.

This is possibly the first time such a large number of trains have been halted in north Bengal for more than a day.

Shitushing Hajong, the Northeast Frontier Railway public relations officer, said at 5pm that 15 trains were stuck in total in Assam and Bengal. He said at least 14,000 passengers could be on the trains.

An estimate of how many passengers were stuck in north Bengal alone tonight was not available.

This morning, there was no water in most of the toilets in the North East Express at Alipurduar. The air-conditioning did not work either, and the pantry car food stocks also became insufficient.

In the Rajdhanis, drinking water was insufficient. Passengers of the Dibrugarh Rajdhani complained that they had to go to a tube well of Samuktala Road station, where the train was stopped for the night, to fill their bottles.

Prem Chand, a trader who runs his business from Guwahati’s Fancy Bazar, was stuck on the Dibrugarh-bound Rajdhani.

At Samuktala Road station, he said: “We did not get tea and breakfast. Around 7am, the staff said they would serve tea. We are drinking water from a tube well of the Samuktala Road station. The railway has thought of our safety but a train like Rajdhani Express should have been detained in a bigger station, so that we would have got everything normally.”

Udoy Kumar Gupta, travelling in the North East Express, said: “I am taking my son to admit him for BTech in Shillong and today was the admission date, but we failed to reach there and I don’t know what will happen when we will reach Guwahati.”

At least 10 children had reportedly taken ill in one of the Rajdhanis. Hiramani Deka, who was travelling with her daughter Prachi, said: “From the morning, there has been no drinking water in the train, AC machines have not been working, toilets are not clean, children are becoming ill and no doctor has attended to them. Our country has so many forces, then why are trains attacked and not run without any trouble?” she complained.

This afternoon when the Rajdhani Expresses reached New Cooch Behar station, some annoyed passengers went to the station master to complain.

Hajong said: “Till yesterday, we have tried seven times but failed (to run the trains). We regret for the inconvenience caused to the passengers. Now, till the law and order situation becomes normal, we will not run any train.”