Train services resume in Bengal's accident site

Train services on both the up and down lines at Rangapani near West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri station were fully restored on Tuesday, a day after a goods train rammed into the Kanchanjunga Express from behind, killing 10 people.

 

Electrical traction was restored at the accident site and trains with electric locomotives have started plying on the stretch from Tuesday afternoon, Divisional Railway Manager of Katihar S Kumar said.

 

He said that trains were moving through the accident spot with speed restrictions, following repair of the tracks and other components.

 

The Monday morning collision of the two trains had caused extensive damage to tracks and electric traction poles, officials said.

 

Operations on the down line using both electric and diesel locomotives were restored on Monday night, and in the up line, diesel locomotive-run train services were restarted on Tuesday morning.

 

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while visiting the accident site on Monday evening, had said that since it is the main line connecting the northeast with the rest of the country, focus was to restore services on the route at the earliest.