Charminar Express Rams Into Wall; 6 Hurt

Hyderabad: Six persons were injured as three coaches of the Charminar Express train, coming from Chennai to Hyderabad, derailed at the Nampally railway station around 8.45 am on Wednesday.

Officials said that the injured were shifted to the Railway Hospital at Lalaguda.

The train, which was scheduled to arrive at Platform No. 5 at 8.10 am, was running 40 minutes late. While it was approaching the platform in a slow phase, it suddenly speeded up and rammed the stopping wall of the railway track, with the jolt derailing three compartments.

Beerender Singh, a passenger who felt the jolt, said the train was mostly empty as most of the passengers got down at the Secunderabad railway station. “The train reached the platform at a walking speed but towards the end, it suddenly picked up speed and we felt a big jolt after a loud thud.”

Ravikanth Rao, who witnessed the incident at the station, as he was waiting to collect a parcel from Chennai, said, “The train was supposed to stop when it suddenly moved and we saw coaches were derailed.”

The investigation team, led by the railway safety commissioner, said that they checked the bags of the loco pilot and found a bunch of tablet sheets, which they sent for testing to drug authorities to ascertain why the pilot was taking them.

The incident led to Platform No. 5 being cordoned off for activities till the afternoon to facilitate restoration work, while it also delayed the parcel section, with those coming to pick up deliveries having to wait longer.

In a statement, the railways said: “Train No. 12759 Tambaram-Hyderabad Charminar Express, while rolling on to the Platform No. 5 of Hyderabad station, hit the dead end of track, resulting in the derailment of three coaches S2, S3 and S6 on at around 8.45 am. The six passengers who suffered injuries in the incident were provided with medical assistance at Central Railway Hospital, Lalaguda.”

It said that officials and staff from the branches concerned immediately undertook restoration works and promptly cleared the coaches for examination after re-railing the affected coaches. The affected track was also restored for regular train movements.

There was no impact on the movement of other trains, including the return journey of the Charminar Express Train No. 12760 from Hyderabad to Tambaram, which commenced its journey as per its scheduled timings from the station.