Thiruvananthapuram: A landslide near Parassala railway station in Thiruvananthapuram district derailed the locomotive of the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express early on Thursday, disrupting train services in the region.
The incident occurred at 2:19 am when Train No. 22619 Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express was stopped near Parassala following the landslide.
The locomotive was found derailed after the train stopped at the location, the railways said.
"All passengers and railway staff are safe," the Southern Railway said in a statement.
A relief locomotive was immediately arranged to move the train, while an Accident Relief Train (ART), along with personnel and materials, was rushed to the site to carry out restoration work and resume train services, it said.
In its latest update, the Southern Railway said the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express, which started its journey from Bilaspur on October 20, would terminate at Neyyattinkara.
The section between Neyyattinkara and Tirunelveli has been partially cancelled, and buses have been arranged to transport passengers to their destinations.
Disrupted train services
Six passenger trains scheduled to operate on Thursday have been fully cancelled due to restoration work near the Parassala railway station.
The cancelled services are:
- Thiruvananthapuram North-Nagercoil Junction Passenger
- Nagercoil Junction-Kollam Junction Passenger
- Nagercoil Junction-Thiruvananthapuram North Passenger
- Kollam Junction-Nagercoil Junction Passenger
- Thiruvananthapuram North-Nagercoil Junction Passenger
The Kanniyakumari-Mangaluru Central Parasuram Express, scheduled to leave Kanniyakumari at 3.45 am, had been rescheduled to depart at 7 am, a delay of three hours and 15 minutes.
The Southern Railway has provided temporary contact numbers 9188241681, 9188523905 and 8590137970 for passengers seeking updated information on train services.
The incident occurred amid a spell of heavy rain in the region.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for Thiruvananthapuram district on Wednesday, warning of very heavy rainfall, and a yellow alert for October 22 to October 25, forecasting heavy rain.
