Kanchanjunga Express accident: 900 men defy rain, toil 22 hrs to restore tracks

SILIGURI: Nine hundred men and multiple machines worked non-stop for 22 hours amid heavy rain to restore by Tuesday morning 300 metres of tracks damaged when a goods train rear-ended the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjungha Express on Monday.

Avadh Assam Express was the first to roll at 10.42am on Tuesday past the spot where three of Kanchanjungha bogies had derailed and a fourth was tossed atop the goods train's engine. Curious Avadh Assam passengers had their windows rolled up. Many gathered near train doors with cellphones stretched out, filming the mangled coaches and toppled containers from the freight train.

The first train run followed a series of trials. "We had restored the Guwahati-bound line by 5.40pm on Monday and the Sealdah-bound line by 7.30 am on Tuesday," said NF Railway spokesperson Sabyasachi Dey. "Trains have for now been told to run at a restricted speed limit of 10kmph on the stretch."

Trains were running with manual clearance till automatic signalling was restored on the Sealdah-bound tracks by 3.45pm on Tuesday. A railway official explained that ballasts under the tracks normally take 24 hours to stabilise, only after which trains can run at normal speed.

Despite restoration, six trains were cancelled and 22 diverted to reduce pressure on the affected stretch and clear accident-caused backlogs. Among those diverted were the New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express and the Silchar-Sealdah Kanchanjungha Express. Both covered 26km more than normal.