One person was killed and 33 others injured when 11 bogies of Bangalore-bound Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur Express derailed at Sitheri, about 90km from Chennai, early Wednesday morning.
Vellore superintendent of police I Eswaran said that one passenger was killed and 33 injured in the mishap. The injured have been admitted to the government hospital at Arakkonam.
The derailment occurred at about 5:50am, a Railway official said.
Top officials of the Southern Railway visited the spot and commenced an initial probe into the cause of the derailment.
Rail traffic on the Arakkonam sector was disrupted. Railways cancelled about seven trains, including those bound for Bangalore, and diverted some others.
Railway officials have pressed several buses into service to ferry stranded passengers, while at least 200 travellers continued their onward journey to Bangalore by Guwahati Express.