Truck halts train ops for 5 hours after getting stuck at railway crossing

Dibrugarh: An oversized truck on Sunday got stuck between the tracks at a railway crossing between Lahowal and Chaulkhowa, bringing train operations to a halt for five hours along the busy Tinsukia-Dibrugarh route.The truck, which reportedly belongs to a private company engaged with OIL in Duliajan, got stuck at approximately 5.30 am while trying to cross the tracks illegally, without any proper authorisation or permission, triggering a five-hour disruption.“An unauthorised over dimensional truck got stuck in between the tracks while trying to cross the line at the railway level crossing gate traffic 21DD,” said Tinsukia’s divisional railway manager Parag Katre, who personally supervised the clearance operation.The incident affected the schedules of six trains, including the Rajdhani Express, Tambaram Express and Lokmanya Tilak Express, leaving hundreds of passengers in serious discomfort, and prompting the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to immediately activate emergency protocols.While help desks were formed at Dibrugarh and New Tinsukia stations, vehicles were arranged to transport passengers to their destinations.

Food packets, tea and bottled water were distributed to the passengers, while a relief train was kept on standby, in case diversions became necessary.The truck was finally removed from the railway track at 10.10 am, with the driver being taken into custody and the vehicle confiscated.In a release, NFR confirmed that they were coordinating with OIL to ensure stringent action against the concerned company.