Mumbai/Bhubaneswar: At least six wagons of a goods train derailed near Khandala on the Kalyan-Lonavala section on Thursday afternoon, resulting in cancellation and diversion of some long distance trains of the East Coast Railways (ECoR) and Central Railways (CR).
The wagons derailed between Monkey Hill and Khandala at 3.55 pm. The cancelled trains of the Central Railways include Pragati Express, Deccan Queen -- both Pune bound trains from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) -- Sahyadri Express (CSMT-Kolhapur), and both up and down Mahalaxmi Express (CSMT-Kolhapur), said a release issued by the Central Railways.
This led to cancellation of multiple long distance trains, the release said. Besides these, a few trains have been diverted and short terminated due to the derailment, the release added.
Here’s the list of trains of the East Coast Railways cancelled and diverted:
- 11019 CST Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Express which left Mumbai on August 7 is running on diverted route via Igatpuri - Manmad - Daund route.
- 11019 CST Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Express scheduled to leave Mumbai on August 8 has been cancelled.
- 11020 Bhubaneswar-CST Mumbai Konark Express scheduled from Bhubaneswar on August 10 will remain cancelled due to cancellation of connecting train from Mumbai.
- 18519 Visakhapatnam-LTT Mumbai Express left Visakhapatnam on August 06 has been short terminated at Pune and was cancelled from Pune to LTT on Thursday.
- 18520 LTT Mumbai-Visakhapatnam Express scheduled from LTT on August 8 will originate from Pune instead of LTT Mumbai.
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Meanwhile, three train derailments within a span of 12 hours on Thursday rocked the Indian Railways. In the first incident, seven coaches of Shaktipunj Express derailed near Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh at 6.20 am. The train was coming from Howrah in West Bengal and was headed to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
The next mishap was reported at around 11.45 am, when the engine and power coach of the Rajdhani Express derailed near Shivaji Bridge Railway Station (formerly Minto Bridge). The train was coming from Ranchi to Delhi and it derailed while approaching the New Delhi Railway Station.
Following the news of three incidents, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal directed the Railway Board to undertake immediate measures to address train derailments and passengers' safety.
He later chaired a high-level meeting on safety in train operations with the members of the Railway Board and officials of its Safety Directorate.
A comprehensive review of safety was undertaken and Goyal emphasized on setting the safety in train operation as top priority. Unmanned level crossings and derailments due to defects in tracks were identified as two major causes leading to accidents.