Calcutta, June 19: Passengers bound southwards would do better to fly than take a train.

The railway link between Calcutta and south India, snapped in floods, will remain impaired for at least the next four days.

The reason is the severe damage to a railway bridge between Narayangarh and Contai Road stations in West Midnapore.

Kharagpur divisional railway manager Ranjan Tewari said yesterday’s flooding in West Midnapore had uprooted the tracks on the bridge, about 170km from Calcutta, and on both sides of it.

“The tracks between Narayangarh and Contai Road stations got damaged in some places because of the floods. The girders of the bridge are also damaged. That’s why trains cannot run on this route for the next few days,” he said.

Although South Eastern Railway is trying to divert trains headed for Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Secunderabad, most of the major trains were cancelled today.

“The diversion is delaying arrival and departure by at least 10 hours as the trains are running an extra 400km. The problem will continue for the next three or four days,” a railway official said.

A train stuck on a rain-damaged bridge at Bakhrabad, over which the Howrah-Chennai line runs, in West Midnapore. Picture by Swarup Mondal

There was chaos at Howrah station today because of the cancellations, with passengers waiting for hours only to be told their trains would not run.

“I was planning to go to Puri with my family by Puri Express. But it was can-celled,” said Dilip Ghosh of Salt Lake.

Seventeen trains were cancelled today and two diverted, an official said.

So far, at least 11 trains for tomorrow have been cancelled.

The railway authorities said passengers would get a “full refund’’ if their trains were cancelled, or if the diverted route did not touch their destination.