Track wears out, trains halted near Moradabad stn

At least three passenger trains were halted near Moradabad railway station after a section of railway track leading up to the train yard located near the platform was found to be ‘excessively’ worn out.

Deep grooves had formed on the track that could have led to a major mishap. It was first spotted by an alert gang man who informed the senior officials about it. The wearing out was found at six spots on a 25-metre stretch of the track.

It is alleged, the tracks were fine till Tuesday evening and that the damage occurred overnight.

“A team of rail technicians were sent to the area after the input and the traffic on the route was halted temporarily,” said Sanjeev Mishra, public relations officer (PRO) of Moradabad Rail Division of Northern Railway.

The officer declined to comment on the cause of the damage but acknowledged that the degree of wearing out was ‘alarming’.

Sources in railways attributed the wearing out to loose base of railway sleepers causing excessive displacement of the tracks.

“Loose sleepers can make the track move further down when a train passes over it which may result in excessive wearing out of the tracks,” said a track inspection officer.

Another intriguing aspect of the incident is the small time duration in which the wearing out was reported.

According to the PRO, no wear out was sighted by gangmen who inspected the tracks on Tuesday evening, which suggest that it occurred during the night.

“It is quite unusual of track to wear out at such extent in such a short duration. Our engineers are trying to find the exact reason behind it,” the PRO said. The rail division issued a notice for a fresh inspection of all rail tracks in the area after the incident.

Several train derailments have been reported in the state and the country since November last year. The division also witnessed a major derailment between Rampur and Moradabad of Rajya Rani Express in April earlier this year.