At least five-coaches of a Puducherry-bound passenger train derailed near Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram railway station on Tuesday morning. However, the loco pilot’s move to immediately stop the train averted any major accident.
Railway staff said that all passengers were safely evacuated from the train, adding that no injuries were reported, news agency PTI said. The cause of the derailment would be known only after an inquiry into the same is completed, they added.
Railway officials further added that staff and engineers have been rushed to the site and active repair work on the derailed train is underway.
While authorities investigate the incident, railway staff worked and cleared the route for other trains to pass, they said.
The MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) train, which left Villpuram at 5:25 am, was crossing a curve when the coach derailed and the loco pilot swiftly stopped the train. A MEMU train is short-distance train covering about 38 kilometres.
The Villupuram Railway Police have begun their in-depth inquiry into the incident.
Just last week, a goods train had derailed near Srinavaspuram in the Dachapelli mandal of Andhra Pradesh’s Palnadu district. The train was headed towards the Vishnupuram Rashi Cement Factory for loading cement.
In view of the incident, railway officials at the time diverted the trains on the Guntur-Hyderabad route, making them take the Vijayawada path.
In October 2023, a major accident took place in the southern state when at least 12 coaches of the Bagmati Express train — travelling from Karnataka’s Mysuru to Bihar’s Darbhanga — derailed at Kavarapettai, which is just 40 kilometres away from Chennai.
Despite receiving a green signal to pass through the main line the passenger train had entered the loop line, resulting in the accident which left 19 persons injured.
However, no casualties or life-threatening injuries were reported after the accident.
Around 1,360 passengers were on board the train at the time of the incident, Tiruvallur collector T Prabhushankar had said.
(with inputs from agencies)