Several express trains suffered detention enroute in the Villupuram-Tiruchi chord line section in the small hours of Tuesday following rail fracture between Thalanallur and Icchangadu.
In all, seven trains from and to Chennai were detained at different places with the detention time ranging from 20 minutes to 85 minutes because of the problem that was noticed at around 2.35 a.m.
The loco pilot of the Tirunelveli-Chennai special train apparently felt a heavy jerk while passing through that stretch and alerted the station master of Thalanallur, railway sources said.
Consequently, the Tirunelveli-Chennai Express, Tuticorin-Chennai Pearl City, Rameswaram-Chennai, Sengottah-Chennai, Chennai-Tiruchi Rockfort and Chennai-Mangalore Express were halted at stations, including Sendhurai, Ottakoil, Vriddhachalam, Thalanallur, and Icchangadu.
Railway officials attended the problem in the early hours and the trains were operated at a restricted speed in that particular stretch, the sources added.
