Tracks at Balasore accident site repaired, overhead electrification work started: Railways min Vaishnaw

"Track linking of Up-line has been done at 16.45 hours. Overhead electrification work started," Vaishnaw tweeted on Sunday.

Government on Sunday said that both the Up and Down railway tracks at Balasore accident site have been repaired.

Heavy machinery remove damaged coaches from the railway tracks at the site of a train collision following the accident in Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha on Sunday. (REUTERS)

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted that track linking Up-line has been restored and overhead electification work has also started.

"Track linking of Up-line has been done at 16.45 hours. Overhead electrification work started," Vaishnaw tweeted on Sunday.

He had earlier tweeted that the down line which links Howrah has been restored.

Officials said this implies that at least one set of railway tracks were now fit for trains, but more time will be required to fix all tracks, which include loop lines, at the Balasore accident site.

However, till the overhead electric cable are repaired, only diesel locomotives can be run on the two line which have been repaired.

Once the overhead electric lines are repaired, electric trains can start plying. They indicated that this would take another three days.

Three trains— Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah super fast and a goods train — were involved in the pile-up on Friday, being described as one of India’s worst train accidents.

The Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary goods train and many of its carriages overturned including some onto another train, the Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express, which was also passing by at the same time on Friday.