ROURKELA: Train services on the busy Howrah-Mumbai main line of the South Eastern Railway (SER) were affected with at least a dozen prominent trains running several hours behind schedule on Monday following the derailment of a goods train near Jharsuguda.
SER sources informed three wagons of the good train moving on the third line connecting the Jharsuguda yard derailed between 12.30 am and 1 am on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. The derailed wagons damaged overhead power wires and electric posts along the tracks to block passages on the Up and Down tracks of the Howrah-Mumbai main line, they said. Owing to these, trains running during the affected hours had to be stranded at different nearby stations.
Train movement on the Up track was restored around 5.30 am in the morning, while the Down track was restored by 7 am, they informed.
At least seven prominent trains on the Down track and five trains on the Up line including the 2259 Gitanjali Super Fast Express and 02833 Howrah-Ahemadabad Super Fast Express were affected and they ran two to three hours behind schedules. Separately, services of four local trains including the Jharsuguda-Rourkela and Rourkela-Hatia passenger trains were cancelled for the day.
SER’s Chief Public Relations Officer at Kolkata Niraj Kumar said on a war-footing train services have been restored on the route to avoid inconvenience to the travelling passengers. He said by early Monday morning trains movements have started normally, adding efforts are also underway by the SER to ascertain the reason for the derailment.