When Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was seen praying with folded hands as the first train moved on restored tracks late on the night of June 4 near Bahanaga Bazaar Railway Station in Odisha’s Balasore district, which witnessed one of most devastating train accidents in the country’s history, it was thought everything would fall into line thereafter.
However, more than 100 passenger trains have been cancelled on the busy Howrah-Chennai line since June 6. Plans for summer vacation from school have gone awry. Despite efforts, it appears that restoration to normalcy has not returned to the pre-accident level.
Passengers from West Bengal, who were stranded in Odisha after the accident, have taken advantage of free bus rides to Kolkata facilitated by the Odisha State government, but those who want to go to the southern States are having a harrowing time.
The biggest cancellation list put out by the East Coast Railway was for June 6 and 7. As many as 85 trains were cancelled for two days. Since then, too, trains have been steadily cancelled. South East Railways and East Coast Railways attribute to frequent cancellation of trains to the scarcity of rakes.
“I had booked a ticket in Chennai Mail last week. The train, however, got cancelled due to the accident at Bahanaga. I had to rebook through Tatkal facility in a different train, which once again got cancelled putting my entire journey and further travel plans to southern Indian into jeopardy. Now, I fear about getting confirmed ticket for the next one month as recurrent cancellation has upset the travel plans of thousands who are desperately trying to book tickets like me,” Prasanta Dash, a banker, said.
“The required number of rakes were not available leading to cancellation of trains. An eight hour window has been taken for the launch of a foot overbridge near Santragachhi, which was another reason,” Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), South Eastern Railway, said, when asked if the cancellation of so many trains was linked to the “incomplete” restoration work at a crash site near Bahanaga.
Incidentally, the Vande Bharat Express between Puri and Howrah has not been cancelled since June 5. The train that’s being showcased by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government maintains its normal schedule despite the massive cancellation of trains, a senior Indian Railways official confirmed on condition of anonymity. The service of the 12841 Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express, which derailed, was resumed for a brief period, but the fast-moving train was again cancelled.
Mr. Chaudhary refused to confirm that there was any issue of stabilisation of tracks near Bahanaga. “Trains are running at 30 km per hour in that stretch. It has nothing to do with any stabilisation of tracks near accident site,” he said.
Biswajit Sahu, Chief Public Relations Officer, East Coast Railway, said the trend indicated that disturbances in train movement may continue till June 13.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the causes of the accident, has sealed the Bahanaga Bazaar Railway Station the after seizing the log book and the relay interlocking panel. Till the probe is over, no train will stop at the Bahanaga, where the deadly train accident left 288 passengers dead and over 1,200 injured.
