The rail communication of Rajshahi with other parts of the country was restored after twenty-eight hours disruption following derailment of a freight train at Dighalkandi area under Charghat Upazila in the district on Wednesday, reports BSS.
Khandaker Shahidul Islam, General Manager of West Zone of Bangladesh Railway, said of the train’s 30 tanker wagons, eight went off the lines in outer Sardaha Road Station area around 6pm, damaging around 500 metres of the lines. Later, a relief train from Ishwardi rushed to the spot and salvaged the train around 10:30 pm after over 25-hour struggle amidst inclement weather, said the official.
The derailment caused immense suffering of hundreds of people including Hajj pilgrims, as journey of all the scheduled trains between Rajshahi and other parts of the country has been cancelled.
After successful salvation of the bogies on the repaired track, Rajshahi- bound intercity train Padma express from Dhaka that remained stranded at Sardaha station passed the area at around 11:30 pm Thursday.
Relating to the possible cause behind the derailment incident General Manager Shahidul Islam said the on-duty engineers primarily detected a spread of gauge (space between the lines) that caused the oil train derailment and they found a portion of the rail lines broken.
Meanwhile, the railway authority has formed a five-member probe body headed by Divisional Transport Officer Abdullah Al Mamun to investigate into the derailment incident asking it to submit its report within next 72 hours.
Abdullah Al Mamun told the journalists that the probe body has been asked to find the cause of the accident and persons responsible and submit the report within three days.