Landslide derails locomotive near Parassala, 6 passenger trains cancelled
Heavy rain-triggered landslide derails a locomotive near Parassala, disrupting rail traffic; 6 passenger trains cancelled; no injuries reported
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 22 (PTI) A landslide near the Parassala railway station in this southern Keralam district derailed the locomotive of the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express early on Thursday, disrupting train services, with the railways cancelling six passenger trains and partially cancelling the affected express train.
The incident occurred at 2:19 am when Train No. 22619 Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express was stopped near Parassala following the landslide.
The locomotive was found derailed after the train stopped at the location, the railways said.
"All passengers and railway staff are safe," the Southern Railway said in a statement.
A relief locomotive was immediately arranged to move the train, while an accident relief train (ART), along with personnel and materials, was rushed to the site to carry out restoration work and resume train services, it said.
In its latest update, the Southern Railway said the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express, which started its journey from Bilaspur on October 20, would terminate at Neyyattinkara.
The section between Neyyattinkara and Tirunelveli has been partially cancelled, and buses have been arranged to transport passengers to their destinations.
Six passenger trains scheduled to operate on Thursday have been fully cancelled due to restoration work near the Parassala railway station.
The cancelled services are the Thiruvananthapuram North-Nagercoil Junction Passenger, the Nagercoil Junction-Kollam Junction Passenger, the Nagercoil Junction-Thiruvananthapuram North Passenger, the Kollam Junction-Nagercoil Junction Passenger and the Thiruvananthapuram North-Nagercoil Junction Passenger.
The Kanniyakumari-Mangaluru Central Parasuram Express, scheduled to leave Kanniyakumari at 3.45 am, has been rescheduled to depart at 7 am, a delay of three hours and 15 minutes.
The Southern Railway has provided temporary contact numbers 9188241681, 9188523905 and 8590137970 for passengers seeking updated information on train services.
The incident occurred amid a spell of heavy rain in the region.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for Thiruvananthapuram district on Wednesday, warning of very heavy rainfall, and a yellow alert for October 22 to October 25, forecasting heavy rain. PTI