On N-E tracks, pilot trains as escorts

Currently, the Government Railway Police GRP, the state police and Central paramilitary forces like CRPF are used to patrol tracks in NFR which currently has around 3,800 km of tracks running through eight states, including five from the North Eastern Region. With less than 4,000 RPF personnel available in the entire NFR, the task of assigning these men track patrolling jobs would not be easy since it could end up affecting their numbers performing the access control and train escort duties.

Further, to ensure that the tracks are not left unoccupied for longer durations, NFR is planning to cut the time interval between the passage of two trains. 8220;The idea is to keep the track occupied as much as possible. We would like to run trains in quick succession of each other through sensitive routes. Also, another plan is to insert goods trains in between two passenger trains to ensure track occupancy,8221; NFR8217;s Chief Public Relations Officer Trikal Rabha said. Around 60 trains, including 28 passenger trains, operate on the major routes of NFR.

RPF8217;s Additional Chief Security Commissioner D. Kholi, when contacted, said that mobile patrolling units were being formed to be deployed in areas like Dimapur, Lamding, Alipurduar and Hashimara. Running of pilot trains on sensitive routes has been a common practice in NFR in the run-up to Republic Day and Independence Day. However, in the wake of recent incidents, the NFR has decided to put this system in place immediately. 8220;These security measures could lead to delays in some trains. We request the passengers to bear with us,8221; Rabha added.