CHENNAI: Thousands of passengers faced hardship due to delayed services in the Chennai-Arakkonam section after three coaches of an empty suburban train derailed in Avadi on Tuesday morning. All intercity trains operating from Chennai to Coimbatore, Tirupati, and Bengaluru, including the Vande Bharat, Double Decker, Shatabdi, Kovai, Lalbagh, Sapthagiri, Garudadri, Coimbatore intercity, and other express trains experienced delays of two to three hours in both directions.
On account of the Vijayadasami, which was a holiday, the suburban train services followed the Sunday schedule. However, major suburban stations such as Avadi, Ambattur, Villivakkam, and Perambur witnessed huge crowds due to the delayed operation of trains.
The incident occurred at 5.40 am, when a railway staff was shunting an empty suburban rake from the maintenance shed near Annanur to Avadi station. While moving from the suburban down line (towards Avadi) to the suburban up line (towards Chennai), three coaches from the end derailed. Due to this, the overhead lines connected to express tracks got damaged.
As a result, five local trains headed towards Central were delayed, and three express trains originating from Central, including Vande Bharat (Chennai - Mysuru), Shatabdi (Chennai - Myrsuru), and Kovai Express (Chennai - Coimbatore), were halted at Ambattur station for nearly 90 minutes. Additionally, express trains originating from Central, such as Saptagiri, Brindavan, and Double Decker Express, were rescheduled after a two-hour delay.
Upon receiving this information, top officials, including the additional general manager, divisional railway manager, and other officials, rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry. The express overhead line was restored by 11 am. To manage the crowds at stations, the railways diverted suburban trains from Tiruvallur and Arakkonam towards Chennai on the express line, from Avadi to Villivakkam.
S Durairaj of Tiruvallur said, “Around 8.40 am, I was informed that all trains were cancelled from Central. It took nearly four hours to reach Tiruvallur.” A Krishna Kumar of Bengaluru said, “Brindavan express reached Bengaluru late by nearly 2.5 hours. The train doesn’t have a pantry car. In the event of an emergency, the railways should consider offering food and beverages from en route stations.”