Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A major accident was averted after a freight train derailed near Maksi railway station on Saturday. According to reports, the train was travelling from Ujjain to Guna when it suddenly lost control.
A preliminary probe indicated that the main cause of the accident was the defective rail track. The train lost its balance as soon as the train wheels reached the cracked track, and the carriages derailed.
Fortunately, there were no casualties in the accident.
Railway officials and employees rushed to the scene and assessed the situation as soon as they received the information. An alert was immediately issued, and rail traffic was controlled as scheduled trains were halted in mid-run.
Team arriving from Ujjain for repair works
Engineers were called, and repair work will be started soon. However, officials present at the site did not give any official statement regarding the accident. Rail operations were disrupted for some time due to the accident, and efforts are being made to gradually restore normal service.
The staff stated that the initial assessment indicates that a track defect may have caused the accident. A technical team from Ujjain is arriving at the site for a detailed investigation, and the situation will become clear only after the investigation report is released.
Further details are awaited.
Stone pelting incidents becoming frequent in railways
Frequent instances of stone-pelting on trains have been reported in Madhya Pradesh. According to Railway, Northern Railway reported the highest number of cases (363), followed by East Central Railway (219), South Central Railway (140), North Central Railway (126), Western Railway (116) and Southern Railway (108). Other zones also reported incidents, including Central Railway (96), Eastern Railway (71), North Frontier Railway (67), South Western Railway (80), West Central Railway (77), East Coast Railway (50), South Eastern Railway (51), South East Central Railway (51), North Western Railway (55), North Eastern Railway (25) and Konkan Railway (3).
Arrests were made based on such incidents, reflecting sustained enforcement efforts and a zero-tolerance approach towards activities that compromise passenger safety and damage railway property.
