Dec. 28: If you happen to be on a train that passes by Suprakandi railway station, do not be surprised to see a wedding party in full swing right on the platform or a group of drunken gamblers enjoying a boisterous night out.

Lalu Prasad’s resurgent Indian Railways renovated the railway station all right, but seemed to forget that it must be made operational. Suprakandi station has been in this state since 2003, when it was closed down for want of “paying passengers”.

Residents of the township, 9km from Karimganj town and part of the route linking south Assam to Dharmanagar in Tripura, have long been demanding that the station be reopened.

A campaign by the local population did force Northeast Frontier Railway to renovate the station, but it has remained diffident about posting staff there and reopening the ticket counter and other services.

A team of railway officials from the Lumding division told residents recently that the only reason for not reopening the station was economic unfeasibility.

“The station incurred losses when it was open because passengers would board the train without buying tickets,” the general manager of NF Railway’s Lumding division said.

The closest that NF Railway came to reopening the station was in June, when applicants for jobs at the station were asked to report at the Lumding divisional office. The interviews were, however, postponed at the last minute.

For residents looking for free recreation space, the renovated station has become the ideal place to hold wedding parties, gamble or drink.

“We do not have the faintest idea why the railway authorities have left a renovated station to rot like this. Passengers board trains that stop at this station and would gladly buy tickets if the counter is open. NF Railway can earn some revenue if they reopen the station, and that will also prevent goons from turning it into their den,” a resident said. An official source said NF Railway had given at least two persons official contracts to sell tickets, but the move flopped.

“I remember that a person named Badal Bhattacharjee was given the contract, but he did not do the job properly. The Lumding railway division then engaged another person to sell tickets. He turned out to be just as inefficient.”