NFR closes six railway stations on Dibru-Sadiya line

Doomdoma Feb 8: Six railway stations on the historic Dibru-Sadiya railway line under the Tinsukia division of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) have been closed. In response to a written question by Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) member Mulendra Moran, the divisional railway manager (DRM) of Tinsukia division, Uttam Prakash Yadav, stated in his reply that the six stations on the 143-year-old historic Dibru-Sadiya railway line - Talap, Rupai Siding, Doomdooma, Hansara and Borhapjan - have been closed.

The DRM held a meeting with the members of the DRUCC on January 29 at the conference hall of his office. The meeting was attended by DRUCC member Mulendra Moran who made seven recommendations on improving the infrastructure of the Dibru-Sadiya railway line.

These seven recommendations were as follows:

• the old nameplate of the Makum-Saikhowa railway line under the Tinsukia railway division, built by the Assam Railway and Trading Company in 1881-82, should be retained as the Dibru-Sadiya railway line;
• a TVU (train vehicle unit) survey should be conducted on this historic railway line along with appointment of gatemen at required crossing gates and removal of unnecessary railway crossing gates;
• DEMU train no. 07904/07905 (permanent no. 75904/75903) running between Tinsukia and Dangari should be extended to Jorhat Town Railway Station via Dibrugarh Town Station, which will generate revenue for the railway exchequer and provide local train services to the passengers;
• reconstruction of the six abandoned railway stations of Dangari, Talap, Rupai Siding, Doomdooma, Hansara and Borhapjan of Tinsukia railway division along with appointment of station masters in these stations;
• long-distance rail services should be provided to the citizens of Sadiya, Doomdooma and Makum LACs from Dan-gari Railway Station under Tinsukia railway division;
• construction of a railway terminus at Dangari; and work on the proposed railway project from Rupai Siding to Parashuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh should be started soon.

In response to these seven recommendations, DRM Yadav said that the railway ad-ministration is taking the recommendations seriously. He further informed that the TVU survey from Makum Junction to Dangari Railway Station will be conducted in December this year.

He also said that mobile gatemen have been deployed at the railway crossing gates between Makum Junction and Dangari and various possibilities are being explored to close unnecessary railway crossing gates. Necessary measures will be taken to seek permission from the Tinsukia district administration in this regard.

The DRM further said that passenger reception at Dibrugarh Town Railway Station is not practically possible at present. Therefore, it is not possible to run the DEMU train from Dangari to Jorhat Town Station via Dibrugarh Town Station at present.

Yadav also said that the infrastructure construction of the Dibru-Sadiya railway line will be tested only after the work of the railway project from Rupai Siding to Parashuram Kund starts. The DRM clarified that all the surveys for the railway project from Rupai Siding to Parashuram Kund have been completed and all the information has been sent to the Railway Board.