South Eastern Railway hopeful for resumption of services on Howrah-Mumbai Route by August 1 evening

Jamshedpur: Forty-two hours after one of Jharkhand’s worst train accidents near Badabamboo in Jharkhand’s Saraikela-Kharsawan district South Eastern Railway has cleared of wrecked railway coaches overnight by a team of bulldozers and cranes so that railway services on the main trunk line connecting Eastern and Western India can be restored, railway officials said on Wednesday.

“Train services will hopefully start from tomorrow. However, we have received no official statement on this yet,” said a senior official of South Eastern Railway posted at Chakradharpur division, who did not wish to be named.

He added that coaches are being removed and work on repairing tracks and overhead electric cables, which had snapped, is also ongoing.

The officer further stated that teams are working around the clock.

“We expect trials on the route could start by Thursday morning,” added the official.

According to the officer, the third line will be used only for goods trains and for officers visiting the accident site.

He said, “The third line was declared fit for operation at 19:55 hours. Subsequently, first train in 3rd line departed at 20:55 hrs on July 31. Goods train, serving as an operating train and carrying engineers and senior railway officials, departed on the third line to check all safety parameters before any passenger trains are permitted to use the tracks. Once these safety checks are completed, passenger train services will resume.”

As per railway officials, the Howrah-Mumbai Mail, 12810, went off the tracks at around 3:45 am on Tuesday morning near Badabamboo, under the Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway. Out of the 18 coaches that derailed near Jharkhand, 16 were passenger coaches, one was a power car, and one was a pantry car.

In the tragic railway accident, two people were killed and 20 others were reportedly injured. The Union Government had announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia amount for the family members of the killed.