The Northeast Frontier Railway has announced extensive revisions to train services across the Lumding-Badarpur hill section following severe track settlement near New Harangajao Station. Railway tracks along Line-1 and Line-2 experienced significant ground movement, forcing authorities to restrict movement and alter schedules across multiple major passenger routes. To maintain connectivity while ensuring safety, train operations through the affected stretch are currently being routed through Line-3 under strict precautionary speed limits and enhanced monitoring measures while engineering crews work on full structural restoration.
As a direct consequence of the operational constraints, NFR has cancelled several key daily services. Train No. 15615 that is the Guwahati–Silchar Express scheduled for departure on August 14 and its corresponding return service, Train No. 15616 that runs as the Silchar–Guwahati Express that was scheduled for August 15, stand fully cancelled. Railway authorities confirmed that cancelling these services was necessary to clear traffic corridors for heavy engineering machinery and work trains engaged in stabilizing the roadbed and realigning the damaged tracks along the hill section.
In addition to cancellations, multiple long-distance and intercity services have seen substantial schedule adjustments. Among the rescheduled trains, Train No. 15650, the Narangi–Agartala Express on August 14, has been deferred to depart Narangi at 10:30 PM, while Train No. 15649, the Agartala–Narangi Express, will depart Agartala at 11:30 PM the same night. Operational adjustments also impact the Sairang corridor: Train No. 15609, the Guwahati–Sairang Express, will depart Guwahati at 11:30 PM on August 14, while the return Train No. 15610, the Sairang–Guwahati Express, is set to leave Sairang at 9:30 PM. Furthermore, Train No. 20507, the Anand Vihar Terminal–Sairang Express, departing August 14, has been rescheduled to start at 9:10 PM. Intercity connectivity among Rangiya, Silchar and national capital routes has also been re-timed to accommodate the single-line operational bottleneck. Train No. 15611, the Rangiya–Silchar Express, will depart Rangiya at 11:30 PM on August 14, with the matching return service, Train No. 15612, the Silchar–Rangiya Express, departing Silchar at 5:00 AM on August 15. On long-distance trunk routes, Train No. 20502, the Anand Vihar Terminal–Agartala Tejas Express, which commenced its journey on August 12, is being regulated along its route to manage single-track bottlenecks safely. NFR officials emphasised that these modifications are critical to preventing congestion in the hill section and urged passengers to verify updated schedules prior to commencing their travel.
Distipanna Bhuyan