Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Persistent rainfall in upstream catchment areas has pushed the Dikhow River over its banks, submerging tracks and station infrastructure in Sivasagar district. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) halted operations between Simaluguri-Namtiali and Simaluguri-Selenghat after water overtopped the rails. Tracks are underwater. The Simaluguri station yard and the nearby railway colony remain inundated.
Authorities have redirected major long-distance services, including the Rajdhani, Vivek, Kamrup, and Avadh Assam lines, via the Rangiya-Rangapara-Dibrugarh route. Several local services face total cancellation, including the 55914 Tinsukia-Jorhat Town Passenger, 75602 Tinsukia-Lumding DEMU, 15604 Ledo-Guwahati Intercity Express, 15968 Ledo-Rangiya Intercity Express, and the 55910 Dibrugarh-Simaluguri Passenger.
NFR has mobilized engineering teams to address the damage once the water recedes. The railway noted, "The exact extent of damage to the railway tracks can only be assessed after the floodwaters recede."
To manage the chaos, NFR set up help desks, food stations, and refund counters. Officials deployed Assam State Transport Corporation buses and local vehicles at Namtiali to shuttle passengers to Sibsagar Town station for onward transport by special train. Road shuttles have also processed 217 passengers from the 22503 Vivek Express at Selenghat, 570 passengers from the 15959 Kamrup Express, and 490 passengers from the 15934 Amritsar-Tinsukia Express at Mariani. Rail officials continue to monitor the rising water levels, but they have provided no timeline for service restoration.
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