KOCHI: A goods train derailed at Aluva railway station on Thursday night, bringing the train traffic in the state to a halt for almost a day. The train, carrying cement from Palakkad, derailed at Aluva when it entered the fourth line for unloading goods, at 10.20pm.
Wagons 2, 3, 4 and 5 derailed while two of them capsized. It took more than two hours to restore the main track towards the Thiruvananthapuram side to make it available for services. Track towards Shoranur side was restored by 6pm after trial run between Aluva and Angamaly stretch.
Services of 11 trains were cancelled, 13 others were short terminated and three rescheduled on Friday. Many other trains operating in the state were delayed in reaching the destination as they halted at many points. Workers and officials from all departments in the railway toiled for hours to restore services.
“At first we unloaded the sacks from 42 wagons before starting the work. It was a major derailment that we had to cut the wheels of the derailed wagons to lift them. Railways is yet to assess the loss incurred due to the incident. The primary objective is to restore the train movement to both sides,” said an official in the commercial wing of the railway in Thiruvananthapuram division.
The divisional railway manager also reached Aluva to oversee the restoration works. It has been decided to constitute a committee to ascertain what led to the derailment. A railway mechanical official said only two or three derailments were reported last year and that too were minor ones in goods yards without affecting passenger trains movement. “The three-member committee will comprise officials from mechanical, electrical and operations. The train was moving to line number four of Aluva station and the first wagon passed normally. The loco pilot felt the pressure was dropping in the locomotive and heard a sound and suddenly the wagons derailed,” said another official.
Two wagons, which were capsized, had to be cut into pieces to lift them and officials said it would be scrapped since it could not be used further. By 5pm, the track towards Shoranur side was cleared and trial service was conducted before allowing passenger trains to operate. “Accident relief train in Ernakulam was brought to the site for restoration works. Monetary loss due to the derailment, restoration works, delay of train services, cancellation, reschedule and other works will be ascertained. The fourth line track also got damaged due to the derailment,” said the official.
Meanwhile, the Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram Janashatabdi and Tiruchchirappalli-Thiruvananthapuram Central intercity express, scheduled on Saturday, have been cancelled.
