Train services partially resumed in Northeast India after landslides disrupted routes since June 23. The Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section restoration allows goods and passenger trains to reconnect South Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Manipur with the rest of India, offering relief after week-long isolation due to monsoon-triggered damage.
After a week-long disruption caused by massive landslides, train services connecting South Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Manipur with the rest of the country have partially resumed. Officials from the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) confirmed that services through the crucial Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section, which had been non-operational since June 23, were restored partially on Sunday.
The disruption occurred in the mountainous terrain of Assam’s Dima Hasao district, where torrential rains triggered multiple landslides, severely damaging the railway tracks. This vital section serves as the primary railway artery for transporting people and essential goods to the southern parts of Assam and the neighboring northeastern states.
According to NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, the restoration marks a critical milestone. On Sunday, the first goods train and the Kanchenjunga Express — the first passenger train post-disruption — successfully crossed the landslide-affected location at Jatinga Lampur, signaling the reopening of the route.
Train movement has now resumed partially between Lumpur and New Haflong. Full-fledged services across the Lumding-Badarpur stretch are expected to resume from Monday, Sharma stated. The NFR has given priority to goods trains carrying petroleum products and food grains, which are essential for Tripura and South Assam’s Barak Valley — regions heavily reliant on this route for their daily supply chains.
Sharma also noted that a POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) wagon stranded in Guwahati and originally destined for Dharmanagar in northern Tripura has now been cleared for movement.
The impact of the landslides was significant. Earth slips triggered by relentless rainfall had rendered portions of the hill section unfit for travel. This led to mass cancellations, diversions, and short-termination of trains, cutting off vast areas of Northeast India from the rest of the country. Passengers and freight services alike were forced to a standstill, leading to significant hardships for residents in the remote and hilly terrains of the region.
Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, General Manager of the Northeast Frontier Railway, visited the affected sites personally to evaluate the damage, oversee restoration efforts, and boost the morale of the field teams. He instructed railway engineers and workers to deploy maximum manpower and machinery to expedite the reconstruction and ensure early normalization of operations.
The Lumding-Badarpur section is a lifeline for several northeastern states. Every monsoon, however, the region faces similar disruptions. Heavy rainfall often causes landslides, waterlogging, and structural damage to railway infrastructure. States like Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and the Barak Valley in Assam find themselves virtually isolated for days or even weeks, severely affecting both travel and the supply of essential goods.
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Despite the recurring nature of these natural challenges, the Northeast Frontier Railway continues to respond with urgency. This year’s swift response to restore services — within a week — underscores the growing efficiency of the disaster mitigation and restoration teams.
As full services are expected to resume soon, the restoration brings relief to thousands of commuters and businesses that depend heavily on railway connectivity for both mobility and logistics. However, the recurring nature of such disruptions during the monsoon calls for a long-term infrastructural overhaul and the adoption of advanced slope-stabilization and drainage technologies to prevent similar incidents in the future.
