Dozens of trains affected after derailment of coal-laden wagons on Mathura-Delhi route

Dozens of trains were affected as restoration work was underway on the Mathura-Delhi route on Wednesday following the derailment of 12 wagons of a coal-laden freight train between Vrindavan Road and Ajhai stations the previous night, officials said.

"Immediately after the accident, all train operations on this route were halted. However, traffic was restored first on the fourth line during the night, followed by the third line around 7 AM on Wednesday, allowing partial movement of trains in both directions," Agra Division PRO Prashasti Srivastava said.

She said large-scale efforts are on to restore all four railway lines, and operations on the affected section are expected to resume completely by Wednesday evening.

North Central Railway General Manager Naresh Pal Singh and Divisional Railway Manager Gagan Goyal reached the site soon after the incident and are personally supervising the restoration work, Srivastava said.

She said that derailed wagons have been removed from the up and down main lines, and the coal spillage is being cleared. "The overhead electric (OHE) lines are being repaired, and both remaining lines will be made operational within a few hours," she said.

Officials said the freight train, carrying around 5,500 metric tonnes of coal in 58 wagons, was en route from Bilaspur to Hisar when 12 wagons went off the tracks.

Srivastava said that the cause of the derailment has not yet been determined. "No directions regarding an inquiry have been issued so far.  Senior officials are likely to take a decision once restoration work is completed," she added.

Train movement on the busy Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kota routes was severely affected due to the incident on Tuesday night, though no injuries were reported.

Soon after the derailment, Western Railways was asked to divert all Delhi-bound trains via the Ratlam-Ajmer-Rewari route, except the Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.

Trains originating from Delhi and heading towards the Western and West Central zones were diverted towards Rewari-Alwar-Jaipur-Kota, and those going towards the Bina side were rerouted through Ghaziabad-Mitawali-Agra Cantt-Bina.

Besides, eight prominent trains were either fully or partially cancelled.