Technical snag disrupts train movement in Harda district

A technical snag on the overhead equipment (OHE) lines near Kudawa station in Harda district forced two mail/express trains to return to Bhusawal on Tuesday morning. The incident took place about 100-kilometre northeast of Khandwa on the Khandwa-Itarsi section.

A technical snag on the overhead equipment (OHE) lines near Kudawa station in Harda district forced two mail/express trains to return to Bhusawal on Tuesday morning. The incident took place about 100-kilometre northeast of Khandwa on the Khandwa-Itarsi section.

Among the trains affected was the Jhelum Express, going from Pune to Jammu Tavi, which had to pull back and return to Bhusawal after taking a 90-minute halt at Chanera station.

Earlier, West Central Railways (WCR) resumed traffic on the ‘Up track’ six days after the Harda twin derailment, as maintenance work on the ‘Down track’ is still ongoing.

On Wednesday, 29 people were killed as two express trains – Kamayani Express and Janata Express – derailed within minutes of each other on flooded tracks while crossing a railway bridge in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh and plunged into the swollen Kali Machak river at Khandwa-Itarsi section.

“Two trains, a goods train (with electric locomotive) and the Jabalpur-Mumbai Garib Rath moving from Itarsi to Khandwa, reached on time in the morning,”Khandwa station master Sunil Gupta told Hindustan Times. “Following this, the Jhelum Express (11077 Down) from Pune to Jammu Tavi departed at 7:30 am. At around 8:15 am, the train reached Chanera station. (However,) a technical snag in the OHE forced the train to halt at the station for more than one-and-a-half hours. Subsequently, we decided to pull back the train to Khandwa and returned to Bhusawal.”

Several other trains on the section are expected to be affected by the snag and may be diverted towards Nagpur or Surat.