The Railways officials on Monday (October 30) informed that the restoration work is ongoing at war footing on the Howrah-Chennai line in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh where two passenger trains collided on Sunday evening, leaving 13 passengers dead and 50 injured.
According to a Railways official, East Coast Railway General Manager Shri Manoj Sharma is monitoring the restoration work at the accident site along with Principal Heads of Departments of ECoR and Divisional Railway Manager Waltair.
The official also added that eight Poclain Machines, one 140 Tons Crain (Rail Crain) and 800 to 900 Manpower are engaged at the site for the restoration work. Meanwhile, track clearance operations are in full swing and the rescue operations are still going.
According to the officials, four OHE masts, railway electrical infrastructure, have been damaged at the accident site, spanning all the three lines.
Reason behind Andhra Pradesh train accident
Officials of the East Coast Railway (ECR) informed that the Palasa Passenger train hit the Rayagada Passenger train from behind at Kantakapalli on Sunday evening causing three coaches to derail. According to the reports, a guard of the Palasa train and the locomotive pilots of Rayagada Passenger died in the crash.
In the accident, five coaches and the locomotives have been severely damaged. Of these, three coaches belonged to the preceding train, Palasa Passenger, while the remaining two coaches and the locomotive were part of the Rayagada Passenger train.
Biswajit Sahu, Chief Public Relations Officer of the ECR informed that the incident took place after the Rayagada passenger overshot the signal.
33 trains cancelled, 6 trains rescheduled
Following the accident, several trains have either been cancelled or diverted or rescheduled by East Coast Railway and South Central Railway. East Coast Railway officials on Monday officially reported the cancellation of 33 trains and the rescheduling of six others. Furthermore, Sahu, the spokesperson, provided an update, stating that 24 trains have been rerouted, and 11 trains have been partially canceled due to the unfortunate incident.
Sahu observed that traffic on the down line towards Kolkata could be restored before noon and on the up line towards Vijayawada by sometime in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will be visiting the accident site and also those injured and undergoing treatment in Vizianagaram, official sources said. The chief minister has also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh each to the injured from the state. He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured from other states, according to an official release.
(With inputs from PTI)