CHENNAI: In a close shave for passengers, two coaches at the dorsal end of the Chennai bound Bangalore mail derailed about five km from its destination, after crossing Basin Bridge junction, at around 4:30 AM on Wednesday.
None of the passengers in the AC first class and two-tier coaches were hurt in the incident. They were immediately detrained and accomodated in the other coaches and the rest of the train was dispatched to Chennai Central an hour later. With Railway officials reaching the site immediately, the remaining two coaches were shunted away at around 7: 30 AM.
Though the exact reason of the de-railment is not known, senior Southern Railway officials said that a fault or crack in the track might be the cause. Workers continued to weld and lay new sleepers at the spot well into Wednesday afternoon.
The derailment however affected suburban train services on the Chennai-Gudur route, with even a few long distance trains being delayed till 7:30 AM. Some trains were stranded outside Basin Bridge junction and impatient commuters walked out of the trains to take an auto to their destinations. The suburban services to Gudur and Gummidipoondi were re-directed from Chennai Beach till around 9:30 AM, a station official said.
