RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Naxals attack key railway junction in Bihar

New Delhi : Naxals attacked a railway station in Bihar on Sunday. They damaged arailway track at Jamalpur Railway station in Bihar's Munger district on Sunday morning. Jamalpur is a big junction, and is best known as a workshop for the railways. The attack is likely to affect train schedules as the junction is a stop forseveral trains. The attack comes in the wake of a bandh called by the Naxals in Bihar, Jharkhandand Orissa after a Naxal leader was arrested five days ago.Apart from Jamalpur junction, the Naxals had blown up a railway track in Lakhi Saria. There were no casualties in the attacks."We were hiding in a house and we informed our higher authorities. They reverted and told us that police have come for our rescue. We then came out," said an eye witness. Meanwhile, in another incident, a group of 25 to 30 Naxalites exchanged fire with police in Gadchiroli district of Nagpur on Saturday. Police recovered five single barrel rifles, two kilograms explosives, two detonators and other material from the place.

Lalu Yadav slams Bihar Govt. for failure

in ensuring railway security

Patna : Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has severely criticised the early morning Naxal attacks on two railway stations in Bihar which led to the disruption of train services on the Patna-Howrah main line formore than seven hours on Sunday. He slammed the Nitish Kumar-led NDA Government for its failure to protect railway property from attacks by Maoists.' The Railways are the life line of the country and we cannot protect every in chof the tracks. It is the duty of the state to ensure the safety of lakhs of people who travel by train every day and the Nitish Kumar Government has failedin it,' Lalu said. Naxals had attacked the Bhalui railway station between Keul and Jamui on the Danapur-Howrah main line in Bihar early this morning. Another railway station at Ratnapur on the on Keul-Bhagalpur line near the West Bengal border was also set afire by around 100 Naxals. The blast uprooted the tracks and damaged the overhead traction wires, Chief Public Relations Officer of East Central Railway said. There have been regular incidents of violence in the state, following the 24- hour Bihar-Jharkhand-Orissa-West Bengal strike called by CPI (Maoist) on Saturday. While a BSNL mobile tower was damaged in Aurangabad district, another mobile tower of a private service provider was damaged in Rohtas district yesterday.In another incident in Munger, a Maoist group beat up the station master of Ratanpur on Kiul-Bhagalpur section at Saturday midnight and set ablaze a portion of the station building. The track-changing panel and documents in the cabin of station master Lalit Kumar were gutted in the fire, Railway sources said.

Lalu flags off a train to Shirdi

Shirdi : Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav flagged off a train to the holy pilgrimage spot of Shirdi on Saturday. There was no rail link to Shirdi and the pilgrims used to reach the shrine byroad. The new broad gauge line will provide connectivity to this revered shrine from all parts of the country. Yadav, who also visited the shrine, said a large number of devotees irrespective of their faith, pay homage to the seer. The new line, originating from Puntamba on Daund-Manmad route will provide direct rail link to Shirdi from all parts of the country. The beginning journey will be from Puntamba to Shirdi. Regular services will commence from today. The train will leave CST at 10.55 p. m. and reach Shirdi at 10.30 a. m. the next day. The return train will leave from Shirdi at 4.40 p. m. and reach CST at 4.25a. m. via Dadar- Thane- Kalyan- Pune- Daund- Ahmednagar- Puntamba stations with22 halts on the way. The average ticket of a journey from CST to Shirdi will cost nearly Rs. 130.The entire project has been completed at a cost of Rs 78 crore.

Train hits bus in UP, 11 dead

Lucknow : Police said a train has hit a bus at an unmanned railway crossing in UP, killing at least 11 people and injuring 22. Local police official Jagdish Singh says the bus was filled with passengers returning home from a wedding party. He says at least six of the injured are in critical condition. The Saturday night accident was in the Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh, 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of the state capital of Lucknow. Singh says police are searching for the bus driver, who fled the scene.