Train services were disrupted on the busy Howrah-Chennai route today following derailment of a goods train near Palasa in Andhra Pradesh, about 150 km from here, railway sources said.
The engine and seven wagons of the goods train from Khurda Road to Vishakhapatnam derailed at Pundi near Palasa this morning but no one was injured in the mishap, a senior official of East Coast Railway (ECoR) here said.
The Inter-city Express running between Bhubaneswar and Vishakhapatnam and the Passenger train between Khurda Road and Palasa were cancelled, he said.
Over a dozen long distance trains including Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Prashanti Express, Howrah-Chennai Mail Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Vishakha Express, Secunderabad-Howrah Faluknama Express, Tirupati-Puri Express, Patna-Ernakulum Express and Secunderabad-Bhubaneswar Vishakha Express were stranded for several hours at different stations.
Rescue trains and heavy cranes were sent to the site from Khurda Road as well as Vishakhapatnam to clear the track and ensure resumption of train traffic on the route at the earliest, sources said adding the operation was supervised by senior officials.
Efforts were also on to ascertain the cause of the derailment, they said.
