Heavy rainfall disrupted rail services in the Konkan region for 18 hours. As many as five trains were cancelled, two were terminated before their final destination and four were diverted after muck and boulders from the hilly terrain fell onto the tracks at Talgaon cutting between Sindhudurg and Kudal.
The services came to halt around 12.10 am on July 17 after boulder and muck fell at the Talgaon cutting. The authorities promptly swung into action and the Sindhudurg-Kudal section was cleared by Sunday evening. Trains will run as per scheduled from Monday.
Chief public relations officer of Konkan Railway, Siddeshwar Telugu, said, "We had to cancel as well as divert many trains as a precautionary measure. Traffic on the section between Sindhudurg and Kudal was restored within a record time at 4.50 pm the same day."
The railway hired about 76 buses to ferry around 3,000 passengers of two trains-Matsyagandha Express and Netravati Express-between Sindhudurg and Kudal as well as between Ratnagiri and Goa. The stranded passengers were provided snacks and drinking water, Telugu said. The five trains which were cancelled are Madgaon-Sawantwadi Passenger, Madgaon-CSTM 'Mandovi' Express, Madgaon-Ernakulam Express, Sawantwadi-Madgaon Passenger and Madgaon-CSTM 'Janshatabdi' Express. Two trains-Sawantwadi-Dadar Passenger and Dadar-Sawantwadi Passenger-were terminated before their final destination. |