Hundreds of tourists and passengers traveling by Visakhapatnam-Kirandul Special 08516 were stranded on Friday morning at S Kota station on the Kottavalasa-Kirandul line after it fell from the hill slopes due to intermittent rains during the last two days. ,
The incident took place between Chimidapally and Bora caves around 5:00 am, resulting in damage to the Over Head Electrification (OHE) equipment. Araku and S. OHE vehicles from Kota reached the spot. According to railway sources, at 7.57 am, S. The special train that reached Kota was controlled there.
There were 800 passengers going to Araku by this train, of which more than 90% were tourists. Initially, it was thought that only a few large boulders fell on the track, but there was one boulder, which was unlikely to be able to be moved by crane. The boulders have to be dismantled and removed and can take at least four hours after the equipment arrives.
Presently only one coaching train (passenger train) is being operated on this route and rest are goods trains. Railway officials will take a decision on the operation of the train based on the cleanliness of the track. Apart from the tourist rush in Araku and travelers going to Kirandul in Chhattisgarh, the route is also important as goods trains carry iron ore from Bailadila mines to Visakhapatnam port.
Goods trains carrying iron ore in this section run mostly at night. Around four to five empty freight rakes return from the port in the morning. There was no official information about the short termination of the train till around noon.
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