Train services to Sylhet resume after 4 hours
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Train services with Sylhet resumed after about four hours following an incident in which the hook of the engine of the Chattogram bound intercity Paharika Express broke while the train was climbing a hill slope inside Lawachara National Park in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar. Seven coaches became detached from the train. As a result, rail communication between Sylhet and the rest of the country was suspended. A technical team from Bangladesh Railway immediately began repair work at the scene to restore train services. They managed to resume train services with Sylhet after nearly four hours.
The incident occurred at around 1:30 pm Friday while the train was climbing the uphill section of the railway track inside the Lawachara forest.
According to Bhanugach Railway Station sources, the intercity Paharika Express departed Bhanugach Railway Station at 1:06 pm after leaving Sylhet. The engine’s hook suddenly broke while the train was climbing the hill slope inside the Lawachara forest. Seven coaches at the rear of the train became detached while the 11 coaches along with the engine continued forward. Following the incident, train services on the Sylhet Dhaka and Sylhet Chattogram routes were temporarily suspended.
Later, a technical team from Bangladesh Railway began repair work at the scene to restore train services quickly.
Bhanugach Railway Station Master Gouraprasad Das Palash confirmed the matter and said, “Repair work was started immediately after receiving the news. Train services resumed at around 5:15 pm after the work was completed quickly.”
Meanwhile, while a rescue train was heading to recover the accident affected train, one of its wheels derailed. The incident occurred at around 4:30 pm near the yard of Akhaura Railway Station on the Dhaka Chattogram railway route. A railway employee named Swapan was injured in the incident. He is receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Akhaura Railway Station Cabin Master Mainul Haque said, “While leaving the station yard for Sylhet in the afternoon, four wheels of one of the rescue train’s trolleys derailed. As a result, rail communication between Dhaka and Chattogram was on the down line.”
