Seven coaches of a foodgrain special train, carrying sugar to the region, were derailed and the engine badly damaged in a blast at 2.10 am. Five persons including the driver, assistant driver and three personnel of the Railway Police Force (RPF) were injured in the blast, triggered by a remote-controlled device. The Rajdhani Express which was following this special train had a miraculous escape.

The blast occurred between Kokrajhar and Salakati stations in the Bodo-dominated Kokrajhar area, part of the worst-affected 110 km-long Srirampur-Barapeta stretch which worries the Railways most.

The Railway ministry has already started the difficult task of working out new schedules for North-East-bound trains so as not to affect crucial links. The Railways are working on advancing the timings of the Guwahati Rajdhani which passes through thesensitive areas after sunset. The Kanchenjunga Express, which had been cancelled following the Gaisal accident, will now not be started for at least another fortnight.

Director General (DG), Railway Protection Force (RPF) Haridas Rao said the threat from militants was extremely high till August 15.

And in the Railways, nobody is willing to take on the responsibility of the security of tracks. ``The gang-men of the Railways, who are supposed to keep round-the-clock vigil of tracks, only see if the track is intact, that it is not fractured and all the fittings are in place. They don't look for explosives. It is the RPF which is supposed to look after the railway property,'' a railway official said.

But the RPF chief said that they look after all railway property except tracks and bridges. As for track monitoring, the RPF comes into the picture only when theft or pilferage is concerned. Law and order is the responsibility of the state government, that is the local police or the Government Railway Police(GRP) which functions under the state government. ``Even though it is not our responsibility, eight companies of RPF are doing track patrolling in the area,'' Rao said.

``We neither have the manpower nor the equipment to check each and every inch of the track. There are no metal detectors. The tracks are inspected with a naked eye, with a lantern to show the way. Not just the railways, no other agency has the proper equipment to check for bombs. Not even the Army,'' a Railways official said.

Even if it were made possible to check each and every inch of the track, train movement would be severely affected. ``We have to continue running trains to the North-East. Railway is the only link to the seven states in the North-East -- not just for the people but also for transporting essential commodities,'' the official said.

Railways only has a single line link in most parts of the area, which is already saturated. ``Foodgrains, oil, fertilizers, steel, cement, coal and other essential commodities have to betransported to the North-East. And it has to be done before the monsoon advances because rail breaches become a big problem,'' the official said.

Railway authorities say that since it is not possible to maintain round-the-clock vigil of the tracks, they have to do the best in the given circumstances and situation. Though a security pilot engine is being run at regular intervals, it reduces the line capacity even further. ``The best we have decided to do is to schedule the trains in such a way that a goods train precedes a passenger train. At least we can limit casualties this way,'' the official said.

Even in the explosion today, the goods train preceding the Rajdhani Guwahati bore the brunt of the blast. Two days ago, the security pilot suffered the blast as the following North-East Express was saved.