Repair Of Damaged Railway Tracks On New Farakka Line Completed, Trial Run Begins

(MENAFN- IANS) Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) Repair work on the damaged railway tracks along the New Farakka Line in West Bengal's Murshidabad district was completed on Saturday morning, with trial runs commencing shortly thereafter, railway officials said.

The train services connecting south Bengal to north Bengal were severely disrupted in the last couple of days after landslides occurred on the railway tracks of the New Farakka line.

Although restoration work began on an emergency basis on Thursday, incessant rainfall in the area hampered progress, as the soil at the repair site remained unstable and waterlogged. However, weather conditions improved after the rain stopped on Friday night, allowing repair work to gather momentum.

With the restoration work now completed and trial runs underway, railway authorities expect normal train operations on the route to resume by Saturday evening.

The development brought relief not only to railway officials but also to the passengers whose movement from south Bengal to North Bengal and vice versa was heavily affected in the last few days.

Several trains connecting north Bengal to south Bengal were cancelled. The routes of some trains were also diverted. The railway officials on Saturday morning made it clear that normal railway services will be resumed only after the repair work is fully completed and a trial run is started.

Officials and workers engaged in round-the-clock restoration efforts expressed relief after the successful commencement of trial runs on Saturday morning. Railway workers involved in the repair work since Thursday celebrated the development by raising slogans of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai".

Officials reiterated that normal services on the New Farakka Line are likely to be restored by Saturday evening. The disruption also led to a sharp increase in demand for private bus services between Kolkata and Siliguri, with fares reportedly rising from around Rs 1,500 on normal days to between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 over the past few days.

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