Lalu concerned over damage caused to railway in Bihar floods

Railway minister said though repair work was going on at a fast pace, it will take more than one month to normalise train traffic.

Expressing anxiety over large-scale damage caused to railway in recent flood in north Bihar, Railway minister Lalu Prasad on Thursday said though repair work was going on at a fast pace, it will take at least one to one-and-half month to normalise train traffic in different sections.

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As part of precautionary measure to protect the railway from recurring floods, the tracks in North Bihar would be raised on the line of Konkan Railway and boulder pitching done on the lines, he said.

Big bridges would also be constructed to regulate current of rivers and check breaking of tracks due to swift currents of floodwaters, Prasad said while addressing a function in Gopalganj after flagging off a DMU train in the Thave-Chapra section.

The minister announced that Godam Express would now go to Mumbai thrice in a week from Chapra and on the rest four days it will go from Gorakhpur station. Earlier, the same train used to go three days in a week from Gorakhpur and one day from Chapra, the parliamentary constituency of Prasad.

Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, who was the chief guest at the flagging off a new DMU train at Thave station, requested the railway ministry to connect Salar-Phulwaria with the rail. She also urged to convert Chapra-Thave line into metre gauge.

On return, Prasad and Rabri visited the famous Lord Bhagwati temple at Thave. Prasad announced that a railway halt would be built near the temple to help devotees visit the temple.