Jharkhand rail accident: One line cleared for operations, work on for rest

Two persons were killed and 22 others injured after 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed at Potobeda village near Barabambo station on Tuesday morning, officials said.

Ranchi: Tracks were partially restored on Wednesday night in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district after the derailment of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail affected railway services, officials said.

Two persons were killed and 22 others injured after 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed at Potobeda village near Barabambo station on Tuesday morning, they said.

All the coaches and wagons were removed from the tracks and the third line was cleared for the movement of trains in the evening, officials said, adding that the first train crossed the section at 8.55 pm.

Work was underway to restore the remaining two lines, officials said.

Seven trains were cancelled during the day. These are the 08163/08164 Chakradharpur-Rourkela-Chakradharpur Special, 12768 Santragachi-Nanded Express, 08602 Hatia-Tatanagar Special, 08195 Tatanagar-Hatia Special, 18190 Ernakulam-Tatanagar Express, 18114 Bilaspur-Tatanagar Express and 12872 Titlagarh-Howrah Express, the South Eastern Railway said.

"Some trains will also be short-terminated," it added.

The crash had prompted the railways to divert or cancel around 35 trains on Tuesday.

The opposition Congress, JMM and the TMC criticised Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for the accident and advised him to focus on passenger safety.

The railways made an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the two deceased passengers -- P Bikash and Ajit Kumar Samal, both from Odisha's Rourkela.

The railways also paid Rs 1 lakh each to the eight people who suffered minor injuries.