The railway connectivity between the Northeast and the rest of the country was partially disrupted following the collision of the Agartala-Sealdah Kanchenjunga Express and a goods train near the Rangapani station on Monday morning.

Several trains on either side of the accident spot in Darjeeling district were halted at different stations. The Padatik Express bound for New Alipurduar from Sealdah was almost 3km from the accident spot.

The railway officials informed that 24 trains were diverted via Aluabari, Siliguri Junction and New Jalpaiguri (NJP). Three trains were cancelled. A rescue train
was arranged by the railways from NJP to Sealdah to take passengers safely. Another relief train reached the spot from Alipurduar Junction while the first one
arrived at the accident site from NJP.

NBSTC also sent 10 buses to the spot to ferry the passengers of the Kanchenjunga Express to their destination.

“Additional buses will ply from Siliguri to Calcutta,” said Partha Pratim Roy, the chairman of the NBSTC.

The railway traffic through the Up-track (through which the trains from Calcutta
move towards NJP and the Northeast) was restored at 5.40pm.

Scores of passengers were waiting to board trains bound for NJP and Calcutta at
different stations in north Bengal when the railway traffic was thrown off the tracks after the collision.