Maharashtra: Three coaches of Puducherry Express derail in Mumbai, no injuries reported

Three coaches of the Dadar-Puducherry Express (Train no 11005) derailed near Matunga station in Mumbai on Friday night after the engine of the CSMT-Gadag Express, going in the same direction, dashed it sideways, a Central Railway official said. So far there were no reports of anyone getting injured in the incident which took place around 9.45 pm, he said.

The incident took place a day before the 169th anniversary of the first run of a passenger train in India. Signal jumping by the Gadag Express could have led to the accident, railway sources said, though the exact cause will be ascertained only after a probe. Some express trains were cancelled or short-terminated after the incident and the traffic of local trains too was affected.

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The Dadar-Puducherry Chalukya Express was entering on DOWN fast line from platform 7 of the Dadar Terminus in central Mumbai when the CSMT-Gadag Express, which departed around 9.30 pm, dashed it sideways on a crossing, the official said.

A video of the incident which went viral on social media showed that the coaches of the two express trains brushed against each other before the derailment. Some passengers can also be heard alerting each other while this happened.

Shivaji Sutar, chief spokesperson of Central Railway, said that relief trains had been sent to the site. The traffic on the Up and Down slow lines, which was suspended for some time for safety reasons, had been restored, he added.

This was the second derailment on the Central Railway section this month. Earlier, the Lokmanya Tilak-Jaynagar Express (Pawan Express) had derailed near Nashik in Maharashtra on April 3, 2022.

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Friday's incident took place a day before the 169th anniversary of railways in India. The first passenger train in India (and Asia) ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853. Indian railway, thus enters into its 170th year of service from Saturday.

Railway officials said the engine of the Gadag Express (which passed from Dadar station's platform number 5) rammed into the eighth coach of Puducherry Express from the rear end, derailing the latter's coach numbers 7 to 9.

The seventh coach of the Puducherry Express tilted a bit after the derailment. Due to the impact of the derailed coach, an overhead wire and a mast (pole) were also badly damaged. Railway sources said the accident might have happened due to signal jumping by the Gadag Express, but this can be ascertained only after a probe. Sutar said that a high-level probe has been ordered.

The authorities were aiming to bring the coaches back on rails and restore the traffic as early as possible, he said. The railway authorities cancelled the Dadar-Sainagar Shirdi Express along with the Puducherry Express and Gadag Express.

Some mail-express trains including the Pune-Mumbai Indrayani Express, Nanded-Mumbai Tapovan Express and Madgaon-Mumbai Mondavi Express were short-terminated. The zonal railways have announced the following helpline numbers for the passengers: CSMT- 022-22694040, Dadar 022-24114836, Thane 022-25334840, and Kalyan 0251-2311499.