VELLORE: The engine of the Dibrugarh-Kanniyakumari Vivek Express detached from the coaches while crossing the Thiruvalam Palar bridge near Katpadi around 9:15 am on Friday. Sources said the train, which runs thrice a week, was travelling at approximately 20 km/hr when the coupling between the engine and the coaches broke, causing the engine to move ahead alone.
The train driver halted the engine at Thiruvalam railway station. Authorities at Katpadi railway station were notified, leading to a halt in train services on the Arakkonam-Katpadi route.
Passengers in the 17 detached coaches, left stranded on the bridge without an engine, were stunned, sources added. A railway engineers team from Katpadi arrived, confirming that the engine’s broken coupling rendered it unusable. A replacement engine from Jolarpettai was brought in and coupled with the stranded coaches. The Vivek Express resumed its journey at 10:45 am, after a delay of nearly two and a half hours.