The National Games torch in his hand, Sonitpur superintendent of police Munna Prasad Gupta sprints along with Tezpur deputy commissioner Kamal Goswami (left) and some veteran sportspersons from Agnigarh to Nehru Maidan on Tuesday. The Games begins on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Feb. 6: Ulfa may have called off its boycott of the National Games, but the threat perception remains as high as ever with the Northeast Frontier Railway extending its suspension of night services by three days.

NF Railway today announced that it would suspend night operation of all passenger trains between Guwahati and Dibrugarh till February 10 as per the advice of the government and taking into account the threat perception to the railways.

All mail and express train services in Upper Assam will be suspended from 6 pm to 5 am. The movement of goods trains, however, has not been suspended.

According to sources, this is the longest-ever duration of suspension of night running of trains in the last decade. They said this clearly implied that security concerns were still high, especially in Upper Assam, forcing the government to ask NF Railway to suspend running of passenger trains by night.

“We cannot take any chances. Any major attack on the railways creates problems for us and hence the directive,” a source said. “A further extension of night suspension of trains till the Games are over cannot be ruled out,” he added.

Yesterday’s blast at Kamakhyaguri station has added to the NF Railway’s worries.

The railways had earlier announced suspension of night running of passenger trains throughout the state in the run-up to the Republic Day. It later extended the suspension of services upto February 7, but only in Upper Assam.

A railway official said it would take a long time to normalise passenger services. “This (suspension of night running of trains) has a cascading effect as it disrupts everything,” he explained.

The suspension of night services will also cut down on revenues. “With not much movement of goods due to less industrialisation, the NF Railway depends a lot on passenger earnings and the suspension will have some impact,” a source said.

The railways is running special passenger trains between Guwahati and Tinsukia, Lumding and Silchar and from Rangia to Murkongselek sections on the North Bank during the day.