A sombre atmosphere prevailed at Vijayawada Railway Station and other railway stations in the division on Saturday as people, with tension writ large on their faces, queued up at the help desks to enquire about the well-being of their loved ones who had booked tickets on the ill-fated Coromandel Express and the Yesvantpur-Howrah Express, which derailed in Balasore, Odisha on June 2 (Friday).
Railway officials were busy collecting details of the passengers travelling on the 12841 Coromandel Shalimar Express and the 12864 Yesvantpur-Howrah Express.
Relatives of the passengers who were unable to contact them over phone were seen enquiring with railway authorities about any information on their well-being since dawn on Saturday. Many said they were anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones since they learnt of the accident on Friday evening.
Officials, who released the names of the passengers, coach numbers, berths, PNR numbers and other details, said several passengers travelling on the two trains were not answering their mobile phones.
Station wears an empty sight
Meanwhile, Vijayawada Junction, which is always bustling with activity, wore an unusually deserted look on Saturday, a day after the ghastly train accident.
Many passengers cancelled their journeys even as the Railways terminated or short-terminated several trains in wake of Friday’s accident.
“Several platforms were deserted and the food courts and waiting halls were empty. People seemed to be in a state of shock over the train accident,” said Chinna, an auto-rickshaw driver.
The Railways, State government and the Government Railway Police (GRP) arranged help desks to disseminate information about the safety of the passengers, said an officer.
“We had booked tickets on a train to Visakhapatnam, but we decided to cancel the journey. My family members are in shock after hearing about the triple train collision,” said a man named Prasanna.
Leaders of International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) organised a candlelight rally to express their condolences over the accident. They demanded a thorough probe into the tragedy.
