RANCHI: Movement of about a dozen trains under the Chakradharpur division in Jharkhand was affected, as a herd of elephants came close to the tracks, officials said on Sunday.
According to the South Eastern Railway officials, "As many as 11 trains were Chakradharpur Railway Division has regulated in the elephant corridor under the Chakradharpur division from Saturday night till early morning on Sunday between 22:45 hours on October 24 to 07:00 hours,” stated a social media post by Chakradharpur Rail Division.
Nine long-distance express trains, including 18404 Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Express, 18110 NITR-Tata express, 22805 Bhubaneswar-Anand Vihar super fast express, 18030 Shalimar-Mumbai LTT express, among others, were affected during the period, it said.
Besides, two more trains were also affected on the Bangurkela-Nuagaon section of the division between 00:40 hours and 07:00 hours on Sunday following the report of movement of a herd of elephants near the tracks.
The trains affected were 13352 Alappuzha-Dhanbad express and 18403 Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad express.
After being informed about the movement of wild elephants near railway tracks, officials have restricted the train speed to 30 kmph and regulated train movement in the elephant corridor under the Chakradharpur division.
As passenger safety and protection of wildlife remained priorities, the authorities appealed to passengers to co-operate and bear with the delays caused by elephant movement and the consequent safety restrictions.
Earlier on Saturday, movement of wild elephants had affected movement of at least three trains.