TIRUCHY: A buffalo which came under the wheels of Chennai-bound Muthu Nagar Express in the wee hours of Monday near Tiruchy brought the train a sudden halt for more than two hours. This incident delayed six more trains on the Tiruchy - Chennai section for more than an hour.
According to the Government Railway Police, when the Chennai bound Muthunagar Express from Thoothukudi was nearing Tiruchy Railway junction at 2.30 am on Monday, a buffalo which was crossing the track, was run over by the train. In the impact, the body got stuck to the wheels of the loco engine. However, subsequently the loco pilot brought the engine to a stand still.
He informed his higher officials, who in turn alerted the technical team. They rushed to the spot and struggled for more than two hours to retrieved the carcass of the buffalo from the wheels and the train departed from there to Chennai at 4.45 am; delayed by two hours.
The delay of Muthunagar Express also resulted in a one hour delay of Ananthapuri Express, Pothigai Express, Sethu Express, Mangalur Express, Pandiyan Express and Rockfort Express trains, the railway police added.
Meanwhile, the Pandiyan Express arrived at the Madurai junction on Monday after a delay of nearly three hours due to the accident near Tiruchy.
Sources said that traffic was affected between Madurai and Tiruchy as the Pearl City (Muthu Nagar) Express bound for Chennai hit a buffalo some km away from the Tiruchy junction. Subsequently, signals for other trains were disrupted and several services were delayed for many hours.
Pandiyan Express was supposed reach Madurai at 6.25 am reached the Temple City around 9.20 am. The Pothigai Express bound for Sengottai also arrived late owing to the same reason.