Bhubaneswar: Railway track affected by derailment between Angul and Talcher road stations restored

BHUBANESHWAR: The railway track, which was affected due to the derailment of a wheat-laden goods train between Angul and Talcher Road stations on Tuesday, has been restored on Thursday afternoon. After safety checks, passenger trains will be run on the route from Friday.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said the affected train engine was removed from the railway track at 1.50 pm on Thursday. Track fitness was certified at 1.55 pm.“Overhead electric (OHE) wires are being reconnected. Traffic in this route will be resumed soon after conducting trial runs by diesel locomotives,” said an official communication.
Regarding the delay in restoring the railway track, a senior railway official said the locomotive (engine) was displaced to a difficult position over a railway bridge after the derailment.
“Had the restoration team tried to forcefully remove the locomotive, the bridge would have been in the danger zone of collapse. A collapsed bridge would have taken much more time to repair. Restoration of train services in the section would have been delayed further. To save the bridge, and for early restoration, calculated and careful steps were taken for grounding the derailed locomotive,” said the ECoR official.
The ECoR official sources said a committee consisting senior officials has been formed to carry out a detailed investigation on the matter. ECoR’s general manager Vidya Bhushan has instructed senior officials for quick normalcy on the rail route.
The zonal railway cancelled six trains and rescheduled and diverted three other trains on Thursday due to the restoration work. Rourkela-Puri special and Puri-Rourkela special were cancelled for Friday.