Kolkata: A rail blockade by agitators at West Bengal’s Jorai railway station demanding a separate state of Cooch Behar led to the cancellation of two trains and diversion of several others on Wednesday, an official said.
The New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati Vande Bharat Express was among the trains cancelled due to the agitation by the Greater Coochbehar People’s Association (GCPA), he said.
The blockade at Jorai railway station in Alipurduar division of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) started at 6.45 am, affecting train movement on the route that connects the northeastern states with the rest of the country.
The agitators said they were holding the “indefinite” rail blockade to press for their demand for the creation of ‘Greater Coochbehar’.
Thousands of protesters assembled at the station in the morning and blocked tracks, prompting the deployment of a large number of RPF, GRP and local police personnel to prevent any untoward incident, the NFR official said.
“Efforts are underway to remove the blockade,” he said.
The 22227/22228 New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express and 15704/15703 Bongaigaon-New Jalpaiguri-Bongaigaon Express were cancelled owing to the agitation.
At least eight trains were diverted via the New Coochbehar-Golakganj-Fakiragram route, he said.
The trains that were diverted include the 20503 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12423 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 15657 Brahmaputra Mail and 15959 Kamrup Express, the official said.
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