Narrow escape for hundreds of passengers as Godavari Express derails

Hundreds of passengers of the Godavari Express had a narrow escape on Wednesday morning when the last few coaches derailed but stayed along the tracks. There were no casualties, injuries.

Four sleeper class coaches, one general coach, and a luggage-brake van were reportedly dragged for a brief distance near Ghatkesar, about 30 kms away from Secunderabad station, the train's next-to-last destination.

A senior railway official told DH that a zonal level committee has been constituted to probe the reasons for derailment.

Godavari Express is a popular train that runs between Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.

The incident occurred at around 6:10 am when the train no. 12727 from Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad, after passing through Bibinagar Stationm got derailed between Bibinagar and Ghatkesar railway stations.

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S4 to S1 coaches, one general coach and one luggage-cum-brake van got derailed. The remaining portion of the train consisting of 16 coaches was unaffected.

“An Accident Relief Train (ART) and Medical Relief Van (MRV) were rushed to the spot along with railway officials to undertake relief and restoration works. The medical staff checked the passengers for emergency medical requirements on board and after a thorough check up, found that no passengers were hurt,” a South Central Railway press statement said.

Passengers in derailed coaches were shifted to the unaffected coaches and the train along with all the passengers left the spot at 7.40 am and arrived at Secunderabad junction at 8.40 am.

Restoration of the track works are proceeding at full swing and normalcy is expected by Thursday morning. Due to disruption to the track on the busy Secunderabad-Kazipet-Vijayawada route, nine trains have been canceled, 19 trains partially cancelled, seven trains rescheduled and six were diverted.