Guwahati: N. F. Railway has incurred substantial losses due to damage to railway track and assets in one hand, and suspension of traffic on the other, during the unprecedented flood in Bihar and West Bengal last month with Katihar Division bearing majority of the brunt.
Approximately Rs 45 crore has been spent on repairing track and bridges in Katihar division alone, while the total cost of repairing has roughly been estimated at Rs. 63 crore. The civil engineering department had to use about 40,000 cubic meter of boulders worth about Rs. 8 crore for repair of bridges and tracks. In Alipurduar Division, a bridge is being rebuilt between Fakiragram – Dhubri section at a cost of about Rs. 8.7 crore, the CPRO of the NF Railway P J Sharma informed.
On the commercial front the loss (estimated till 11-09-2017) is more than Rs. 209 crore with refund to passengers for cancelled train accounting for about Rs. 44 crore. A total of 1576 trips of mail /express trains and 1004 trips of passenger trains have been cancelled since first week of August 2017. Loss due to damage to other assets Signal & Telecommunication equipment etc., are still being worked out.
Table below shows the loss accruing to different heads:
| Heads | Total | |
| (A)Revenue loss due to train cancellation | Reserved segment=Rs. 78.76 crs
Non-Reserved segment=Rs. 16.12 crs |
Rs. 94.88 crs |
| (B )Loss in ticket checking | Rs. 3.88 crs | |
| (C)Loss in Parcel segment | Rs. 16.44 crs | |
| (D)Loss in Freight segment | Rs. 50.13 crs. | |
| Total Loss (A+B+C+D) | Rs. 165.33 crs | |
| (E)Reduction in number of passengers | PRS = 10,89,533, Non PRS = 30,50,278 | 41,39,811 |
| (F)Refund on cancellation of trains (across counter) | Rs. 43.90 crs | |
Various sections of N. F. Railway where flood had caused damages and their restoration dates are given below:
| SN | Section | Restored on |
| 1. | Up line over Bridge No. 133 between Malda Town – New Jalpaiguri | 29-08-2017 |
| 2. | Up line over Bridge No. 133 between Malda Town – New Jalpaiguri | 08-09-2017 |
| 3. | Katihar – Kumedpur section | 18-08-2017 |
| 4. | Bathnaha-Jogbani section | 08-09-2017 |
| 5. | Eklakhi-Balurghat: (Buniadpur-Gangarampur) | 24-08-2017 |
| 6. | Barsoi-Radhikapur section | 18-08-2017 |
| 7. | Fakiragram-Dhubri section | 17-08-2017 |
| 8. | Alipurduar-Bamanhat section | 14-08-2017 |
| 9. | Senchoa-Silghat section | 16-08-2017 |
| 10. | Barsoi-Kumedpur section (Up Line) | 25-09-17(expected) |