Odisha: Train services resume on accident-affected section in Balasore

Train services, on the section where the horrific triple-train accident occurred in Balasore, resumed at 10.40 pm on Sunday (June 4), under the supervision of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and senior department officials.

According to tweets by Vaishnaw, the down main line was fixed by 12.05 pm on Sunday, while the track-linking of the up-line was done at 4.45 pm.

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The first train chugged down the line after the down-line restoration was completed. The up-line train movement began soon after that.

The goods train was seen off by Vaishnaw as scores of mediapersons and railway officials looked on. The train carrying coal is headed towards Rourkela Steel plant from Vishakhapatnam port and is running on the same track where the ill-fated Bangalore-Howrah train met with the tragedy on Friday (June 2).

The development came around 51 hours after the horrific crash which killed 275 people.
The Howrah-bound train crashed with the capsized bogies of the Coromandel Express which had collided with a stationary freight train seconds earlier.

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“Down-line restoration complete. First train movement in section,” tweeted Ashwini Vaishnaw.

An empty goods train was the first train to run on the up line of the accident affected section. This is the same track on which the Coromandel Express was running before it entered into the loop line to crash into a stationary goods train.

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“Three trains have left from the section (two down and one up) and we have planned to run around seven tonight. We have to take this entire section towards normalisation. Our objective is to ensure that all the missing persons’ family members find them as soon as possible. Our responsibility is not over yet,” said a visibly-emotional Vaishnaw as he announced the restoration of the accident affected section.

Around 200 bodies so far remain unidentified.

(With inputs from agencies)