Maoists blow up railway track in Bihar, Rajdhani has a close shave

Gaya (Bihar), Aug 3: Maoists blew up a railway track near here late on Friday night, disrupting traffic on the Gaya-Mugalsari route of East Central Railway.

The explosion on the track between Taraiya and Guraru railway station occurred at around 11pm, barely 20 minutes after the pilot engine of Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani train crossed the area, Gaya Railway DSP Sunil Kumar said. Several trains on the route were delayed as a result. The services resumed on Saturday morning.

There were no casualties. There is usually a gap of one hour between the pilot engine and the train which follows it. Following the blast, the Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani train was stopped at Taraiya station.

Many other trains including Bhubaneshwar-Delhi Rajdhani and Sealdah-Delhi Rajdhani were also stranded at Gaya Railway station.

The DSP said that senior officials have reached the site to co-ordinate repair work.

Railways had decided to run pilot engines ahead of trains following the 2003 accident of Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani in Naxal-hit Aurangabad which left over a 100 people dead.

PTI