Cyclone Titli damages Railway infra, train services disrupted
BHUBANESWAR: As severe cyclonic storm Titli wreaked havoc in parts of south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh damaging railway structures, signalling poles and overhead electric masts, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) cancelled eight trains and rescheduled five others. Railways sources said station buildings at various places were damaged and structures on platforms at Palasa Station destroyed under the impact of the cyclone that made its landfall on Thursday morning.
Platform shelters and covers of foot over bridges were also damaged at various places besides the signalling poles and overhead electric masts at some places between Palasa and Kottabomali stations. Train services were affected as a number of trees fell on tracks and electricity feed disrupted at various places between Berhampur and Kottabomali. Chief PRO of ECoR JP Mishra said Palasa station has been badly affected as the cyclone made its landfall close to it. Efforts were on to clear the railway tracks and damaged structures, he said.
“Train services have been reviewed and decision has been taken as per ground circumstances. Railway teams, including track specialists, bridge engineers and electricity engineers are conducting a detailed study of impact of the cyclone between Berhampur-Palasa and Palasa- Kottabomali,” he informed. Restoration work was, however, hampered due to heavy rain triggered by the cyclonic storm. The officials and restoration team could not enter the area till 10 am as strong wind and heavy rains obstructed their movement.
The trains which were cancelled on Thursday included Santragachhi-Chennai Special from Santragachhi, Bhubaneswar- Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar Inter City Expre s s f rom both directions, Visakhapatnam- Digha Express from Visakhapatnam and Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express from Howrah. Five trains, including Kharagpur- Villupuram Express from Kharagpur, Hyderabad-Howrah East Coast Express from Hyderabad, Durg-Puri Express from Durg, Howrah-Puri Jagannath Express and Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express from Howrah were rescheduled. Meanwhile, services of six trains which were earlier declared as cancelled or diverted have been resumed on normal route after reviewing the feasibility and safety of train operations.