Train services in the Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar section of East Coast Railway (ECoR) have been disrupted following the derailment of Ernakulam-Patna express between Sompeta and Baruva stations in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. The derailment occurred at about 00: 50 hours on Wednesday night.
12 persons sustained minor injuries when 14 out of the 22 bogies of the train derailed. The injured patients were admitted to a nearby hospital at Tikali and most of the persons were discharged after medical aid. No casualty was reported due to the derailment.
Railway officials along with emergency relief and a medical train rushed to the derailment spot from nearby stations. Arrangements are being made to run a special train to transfer the passengers to Patna.
The exact cause of derailment is yet to be known and our first task is to clear the line, said a senior railway official. “While one line was restored at about 7: 30 am today, another line is expected to be cleared by the evening”, he added.
In view of the derailment of Ernakulam-Patna express, ECoR has decided to cancel, short-terminate, divert or reschedule some of the trains. Among the trains which were cancelled include Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar inter city express, Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakha express, Puri-Tirupati express, Puri-Palasa passenger and Khurda-Puri passenger trains.
The trains which were rescheduled are the Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Prashanti express, Bhubaneswar-Mumbai Konark express and Bhubaneswar-Koraput Hirakhand express. The trains which were diverted include the Hyderabad-Howrah East Coast express, Secunderabad-Howrah Falaknuma express and Koraput-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand express while the trains that have been short terminated are Tirupati-Puri express and Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakha express.
