The derailed bogies of the goods train at Lakwa. Picture by Mritunjoy Das

Dibrugarh, April 20: Rail communication in Upper Assam was affected after a goods train derailed at Lakwa station in Sivasagar district today.

Loco pilot Anil Das and his assistant Giasuddin Ahmed of down Balast Special Train, which was carrying stone chips meant for railway tracks from Namrup in Dibrugarh district to Numaligarh in Golaghat district, were injured in the accident.

A railway employee at Lakwa station said the accident occurred as the train rammed into the dead end of the track at the station after it failed to control its speed.

Nearly, 50 metres of the track were damaged because of the mishap, which took place around 4.35am. Along with the engine, 18 bogies of the 43 got derailed.

“The few staff who were on duty at the station ran hither and thither as the train rammed into the dead end of the track and the bogies derailed,” Suresh Kurmi, a local resident, said.

Apart from both the drivers, guard R. Ranjan, who was also in the train, escaped unhurt.

Das said the accident occurred because of some technical fault in the brakes. “When I failed to bring down the speed by applying the brakes, I pulled the emergency brakes. But it was too late.”

The divisional railway manager of Tinsukia railway division, B.N. Mahapatra, said an investigation has been ordered.

Senior officials from the divisional headquarters in Tinsukia rushed to the spot on hearing the news and have been monitoring the repairs of the track throughout the day.

However, passengers of various trains are having a tough time because of the cancellation and re-scheduling of trains.

“I was supposed to travel by the Kamrup Express from Tinsukia and reach Guwahati for an appointment. But even after approaching various authorities, nobody has been able to provide a proper answer,” Vikash Agarwal, a Tinsukia-based businessman said.

Railway authorities have cancelled the 913 Up Jorhat-Tinsukia passenger and 914 Down Tinsukia-Jorhat passenger trains while the 901 Up Lumding-Tinsukia passenger was terminated at Mariani.

The route for the Ledo-Guwahati Inter-City Express has been diverted via Dibrugarh-Moran-Simaluguri while provision has been made for a special train from Tinsukia to take the Rajdhani and Kamrup Express passengers of Tinsukia to Dibrugarh at 9pm, a railway official said.

Mahapatra said all efforts are on to restore normal communication by late this evening or by tomorrow morning depending on the weather conditions.