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Frequent rail accidents in state

By Our Staff Correspondent

PATNA June 8. Two train accidents occurred in different parts of the State today adding to the spate of Railway disasters over the past one week. While the last three bogies of the Nagpur-Gaya Diksha Bhoomi Express derailed just before the Gaya station, two bogies of the Saptkranti Express went off the rails after the train rammed a tractor at an unmanned railway crossing in Bagha of west Champaran district.

On Saturday, a powerful cracker went off near Phulwarisharif in Patna moments after the Rajdhani Express had passed the spot. In Gaya, the Purushottam Express caught fire, which was timely extinguished, avoiding damages.

The month began on a bad note for the Railways when the Magadh Express derailed in Buxar killing one person and injuring two dozen others.

Even otherwise things have been pretty bad at the Patna Junction with trains running late almost as a routine, causing untold suffering to passengers. The authorities take no pains to inform the passengers about the delayed arrivals or departures leaving them stranded at the station.

On the eve of the arrival of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, during his recent visit to the State, the Railway Board Chairman, I.I.M.S. Rana, was gheraoed at the Patna Junction late in the night by harassed commuters some of whom had waited for almost 12 hours for information on the departure of their train. Patna railway station remains cramped for space as a norm, partly because it is targeted during agitations. Compounding this is increasing number of dacoities committed, with alarming regularity in some trains at that. The smaller stations are also easy targets of naxalite groups which attack police pickets and escort parties to loot rifles, making train journeys in these parts unsafe.

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