KOTTAYAM: Hours after the restoration of train traffic between Ernakulam and Thrissur, which was disrupted after a goods train derailed at Puthukkad, the traffic along Ernakulam - Kayamkulam stretch was disrupted after a high-voltage overhead power cable snapped and fell onto New Delhi-bound Kerala Express at Kothanalloor near Kuruppanthara here on Saturday.
According to Railway officials, the incident took place around 4 pm. As the traction cable has been set up with a system of auto cut off in case it snaps, no danger was reported and passengers in Kerala Express were safe.
As per the preliminary assessment, the power cable might have trapped in the pantograph (an apparatus which is mounted on the roof of an electric train to draw power from an overhead wire) and broke. Hearing a loud noise, the train was stopped immediately. Nearly two- and-a-half hours later, the train was shunted to Piravom Road using a diesel locomotive.
Eyewitness said the snapped cable stuck on the coaches, which triggered panic for a while. The authorities soon disconnected the power supply along the stretch from the isolation points.
“In the wake of the incident the traffic between Ernakulam and Kayamkulam stretch has been suspended. The work to reconnect the line is progressing. We expect to restore traffic by midnight,” informed a railway official.