A landslide near Parassala railway station in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district derailed the locomotive of the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express early Thursday, disrupting services on the Neyyattinkara-Parassala section. The disruption affected several other trains, including the Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram Central Amrit Bharat Express.

The incident occurred at 2.19 am when Train No. 22619, the Bilaspur-Tirunelveli Express, was stopped near Parassala following the landslide. The locomotive was subsequently found to have derailed, Southern Railway said.

All passengers and railway staff are safe, according to the railway authorities.

Amrit Bharat Express, other trains affected

Three trains were held en route following the incident. The Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram Central Special was stopped at Eraniel, the Madurai-Punalur Express at North Panakudi and the Tambaram-Thiruvananthapuram Central Amrit Bharat Express at Nanguneri.

The departure of five other trains was delayed:

  • Kanniyakumari-Mangaluru Central Parasuram Express
  • Nagercoil Junction-Punalur Passenger
  • Thiruvananthapuram North-Nagercoil Junction Passenger
  • Punalur-Kanniyakumari Passenger
  • Thiruvananthapuram Central-Tambaram Express
  • The Guruvayur-Chennai Egmore Express and the Pune-Kanniyakumari Express were also expected to face delays, Southern Railway said.

Restoration work underway

Railway authorities arranged a relief locomotive to move the stranded train. An accident relief train, along with personnel and equipment, was also sent to the site to carry out restoration work and resume services.

Train operations in the affected section are expected to remain disrupted until the restoration work is completed.

The incident comes amid heavy rain in the region. The India Meteorological Department had issued an orange alert for Thiruvananthapuram district on Wednesday, warning of very heavy rainfall. A yellow alert was also in place for October 22 to 25, forecasting heavy rain.

With PTI inputs