September 20th, 2011
Guwahati: As the mega earthquake of in Sikkim leaves the tiny Himalayan state in a state of devastation, landslides caused by the earthquake have also affected movement of trains along Darjeeling Himayalan Railway (DHR) – a World Heritage Site since 1999 – in neighbouring Darjeeling hills in West Bengal.
“Landslides have blocked the heritage railway track at numerous places on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Though our men have been on the restoration job since early today morning to remove the debris, it will take at least three more days to resume train services to Darjeeling along the route,” Situ Sing Hajong, CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said here on Monday.
Built between 1879 and 1881, the 86-km long narrow gauge connecting New Jalpaiguri to Ghoom in Darjeeling hills rises from 100 metres above sea level to 2,200 metres. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999.
The NFR authorities have also put restriction on train speed in western Assam and North Bengal suspecting damage may have been caused to the railway tracks because of the earthquake that also shaken Assam and parts of West Bengal. Speed has been restricted to less than 30 kms in three particular bridges where the impact of the earthquake is yet to be ascertained. These three bridges are located between Salakati-Basugaon, Siliguri-Bagdogra and Newmal-Chalsa stations, the NFR spokesman said.
Source: http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/09/20/quake-hits-darjeeling-%E2%80%98toy-train%E2%80%99/
Guwahati: As the mega earthquake of in Sikkim leaves the tiny Himalayan state in a state of devastation, landslides caused by the earthquake have also affected movement of trains along Darjeeling Himayalan Railway (DHR) – a World Heritage Site since 1999 – in neighbouring Darjeeling hills in West Bengal.
“Landslides have blocked the heritage railway track at numerous places on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Though our men have been on the restoration job since early today morning to remove the debris, it will take at least three more days to resume train services to Darjeeling along the route,” Situ Sing Hajong, CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said here on Monday.
Built between 1879 and 1881, the 86-km long narrow gauge connecting New Jalpaiguri to Ghoom in Darjeeling hills rises from 100 metres above sea level to 2,200 metres. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999.
The NFR authorities have also put restriction on train speed in western Assam and North Bengal suspecting damage may have been caused to the railway tracks because of the earthquake that also shaken Assam and parts of West Bengal. Speed has been restricted to less than 30 kms in three particular bridges where the impact of the earthquake is yet to be ascertained. These three bridges are located between Salakati-Basugaon, Siliguri-Bagdogra and Newmal-Chalsa stations, the NFR spokesman said.
Source: http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/09/20/quake-hits-darjeeling-%E2%80%98toy-train%E2%80%99/