THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A landslide near Parassala railway station in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district early on Thursday derailed the locomotive of the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express, disrupting train services in the Neyyattinkara-Parassala section.
The incident occurred at 2.19 am when Train No. 22619 was stopped near Parassala following the landslide. The locomotive was found derailed after the train came to a halt.
"All passengers and railway staff are safe," the Southern Railway said in a statement.
A relief locomotive was arranged to move the train, while an accident relief train (ART), along with personnel and equipment, was rushed to the site to carry out restoration work.
The disruption led to three trains being held en route. The Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram Central Special was held at Eraniel, the Madurai-Punalur Express at North Panakudi and the Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram Central Amrit Bharat Express at Nanguneri.
The departure of five trains — the Kanniyakumari-Mangaluru Central Parasuram Express, the Nagercoil Junction-Punalur Passenger, the Thiruvananthapuram North-Nagercoil Junction Passenger, the Punalur-Kanniyakumari Passenger and the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Tambaram Express — was delayed.
The Guruvayur-Chennai Egmore Express and the Pune-Kanniyakumari Express were also expected to be delayed, the Southern Railway said.
Restoration work is underway, and train services are expected to remain disrupted until it is completed.
The incident occurred amid heavy rain in the region. The India Meteorological Department had issued an orange alert for Thiruvananthapuram district on Wednesday, warning of very heavy rainfall, and a yellow alert for October 22 to 25, forecasting heavy rain.
(With inputs from PTI)