300-mt track replaced, train services resume

Nearly a day after the Lokmanya Tilak Jaynagar Express (or Pawan Express) derailed near Nashik, the Central Railway successfully restored its services on the Down line between Lahavit and Devlali in its Bhusaval division. Nearly 500 workers and officials worked round the clock to restore the section. Maintenance vehicles were cleared from site to the nearest station at around 2.15 pm on Monday. After that track was declared safe for train operations, Godan Express was the first to pass the site cautiously.

Due to the incident, 12 trains were cancelled, 19 were diverted and eight were short terminated/ short originated. Twenty-eight additional counters were opened for refund fare at all major stations for passengers who had to cancel their journey due to the diversion.

A CR spokesperson said the loss caused is yet to be estimated. However, sources said that over 2,500 passengers of the affected routes cancelled their tickets and got a refund of over Rs 10 lakh from the railways.

General manager of CR, Anil Kumar Lahoti is said to have camped at the site till the first train passed over the restored line. Around 250-300-metre track was replaced to restore the operations. The track and overhead equipment was given a nod only after trials.

On Sunday, 12 rear coaches of Pawan Express derailed at around 3.10 pm. The lead portion. which was on track, was moved to Nashik Road with passengers and 11 buses were arranged for stranded passengers of the coaches to Nashik Road station. An empty spare rake was sent from Mumbai to Nashik Road for onward journey of stranded passengers.