Crack on track, passengers suffer delay

Jan. 23: Thousands of rail passengers were stranded on Saturday morning following a minor fracture in the railway track near Maduranthakam. At least six long-distance trains, scheduled to reach Chennai Egmore, arrived late and passengers were put to severe hardship.
Railway sources admitted that a major mishap was av-erted with the timely detection of the facture in one of the tracks on the Maduranthakam-Melmaruvathur ga-uge section by an engine driver. Arrival of express tra-ins, including Ananthapuri, Nellai, Kanyakumari, Podhigai, Pearl City, Nagercoil, Rock Fort and Rameswaram were delayed, sources ad-ded. Railway lines in Mad-uranthakam, Meenambak-kam and Pallavaram have been in the news for wrong reasons like fracture in tracks, cable cuts and delay in train traffic. Since last year, Southern Railway has been witnessing an unhe-althy trend in train operations and passenger safety. There was a hijack, four breaches in tracks and a fire accident. Though all these incidents were well-handled by the railway men without resulting in any casualty, the frequency of such incidents make the public ponder over railways’ safety norms.
Loco pilots and engine drivers allege that passenger safety is put to risk as drivers work under severe str-ess without adequate rest and leave. Chennai divisi-o-nal railway manager Subodh Kumar Kulshrestha said rail traffic in the line was res-tored around 11.30 am. Ac-cording to him, the delay was mostly due to electric cable fault. On recent rep-orts of frequent fractures in tracks, he said electric cable faults were often mistaken as cracks in railway lines.