After 70 Days, Passenger Train Services To Resume In Parts Of North-East

After nearly 70 days, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) will resume passenger train services in Lumding-Badarpur section in Assam on July 22. Both passenger and freight train services were cancelled due to heavy rain and unprecedented landslides on May 14.

This section will connect Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the southern part of Assam with the rest of the country, officials said on Sunday.

NFR's spokesperson Sabyasachi De said freight train services started on July 12 in Lumding-Badarpur section via Dima Hasao mountainous district, which is the only rail route to connect Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam with the other parts of the country.

"Railway officials, engineers, workers worked day and night to bring back the national transporter on track in these affected areas so that scarcity of essential items in states like Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Barak Valley (southern Assam) areas could be avoided," the spokesperson said.

Due to unprecedented landslides triggered by heavy rain since May 13, massive damage has been caused to stations and railway tracks at over 61 locations in NFR's Lumding-Badarpur single line railway route.

In many places, due to heavy rain, the soil from the railway tracks got washed away and huge landslides covered the tracks and other railway assets.

In view of the snapping of the railway services, Tripura and Mizoram had earlier approached the External Affairs Ministry to bring essential supplies and fuel via Bangladesh.