Rail services on the Sahibganj–Barharwa section in Malda Division have been disrupted after work related to the Ganga embankment affected the railway corridor between Sakrigali and Maharajpur stations, leading to the cancellation of several trains and changes to others, according to a report citing railway sources.
The disruption has affected passengers travelling through the Malda Division, an important rail corridor connecting parts of northern and southern West Bengal with neighbouring regions. The railway authorities have cancelled train 63073, the Rampurhat–Sahibganj MEMU, and train 63406, the Sahibganj–Rampurhat MEMU, the report said.
Two further services have also been cancelled for September 30: train 63074, the Sahibganj–Rampurhat MEMU, and train 13428, the Sahibganj–Howrah Intercity Express. The report also said that several other trains were being operated on altered routes, although it did not provide the complete list of route changes in the supplied material.
The immediate disruption has added pressure to a railway network already dealing with recent infrastructure problems in the same division. Earlier this month, a sudden subsidence was reported near New Farakka station on the up railway line. The incident disrupted train connectivity between north and south Bengal, resulted in multiple cancellations and forced Eastern Railway to operate some services through diverted routes.
Railway authorities had then begun repair work on an urgent basis. The repairs at New Farakka were completed after approximately 62 hours, according to the report. The cause of that subsidence was examined with assistance from experts from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
The recurrence of a rail disruption in Malda Division places attention on the relationship between river embankments, railway formations and the region’s transport resilience. The supplied report does not establish whether the latest incident is connected to the earlier New Farakka subsidence, nor does it identify the precise engineering cause of the current disruption. It states that work related to the Ganga embankment is under way between Sakrigali and Maharajpur and that its impact has affected train operations.
For passengers, the operational consequences are immediate: cancelled services, altered routes and uncertainty over connections. MEMU services are particularly important for short- and medium-distance passengers using stations across the division, while the cancellation of the Sahibganj–Howrah Intercity Express affects longer-distance travel towards the state capital region.
The railway’s next operational steps will determine when normal services can resume and whether further cancellations or diversions are required. Passengers have been advised through the railway’s operational arrangements to account for the affected services, while the embankment-related work continues in the Sakrigali–Maharajpur section.
