Telangana, Andhra Pradesh rain fury: South Central Railway cancels 438 trains, races to repair flood-damaged rail tracks

HYDERABAD: South Central Railway (SCR) has been hit badly by the torrential rain, resulting in cancellation of 438 trains till Sept 6 and diversion of another 137 services. Also, the railway authorities have a daunting task on hand, repair the damaged tracks.

Tracks severely impacted

Railway tracks between Kesamudram-Intakanne and Tadla Pusapalli-Mahabubabad have been severely impacted, with the embankment being washed away by floodwater. This section is crucial as it connects Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra with Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. In fact, the water level in the surrounding areas was hindering the efforts of railway personnel.

At Rayanapadu in Vijayawada, a key junction on the Hyderabad-Vizag route, the station has been severely affected with water level reaching up to six feet, causing major disruptions to railway services in the region. In fact, railways have arranged special trains from Vijayawada.

SCR general manager Arun Kumar Jain on Monday inspected restoration works on the Intakanne-Kesamudram section. He instructed teams to undertake the restoration works on a war footing basis 24x7 to restore normalcy at the earliest.

Special trains arranged

On Sunday night, special trains were arranged from Vijayawada, and passengers from several trains were transported from Kondapalli railway station to Vijayawada by RTC buses.

The railway authorities were working round the clock to restore train services in the area to minimise inconvenience to passengers.

They have deployed all their resources, manpower, machinery, and material to restore railway tracks as per the need and requirement of the situation. "The rains have affected rail infrastructure and the loss is under assessment. The restoration of the railway embankment has become a difficult task due to the flood. We expect the train services to resume in a day or two, depending on the progress of the restoration work," a senior SCR official said.
Fare refunds being granted

"Refund of fare is being granted and special arrangements have been made at stations for passengers of cancelled trains and also for trains which are delayed by more than three hours, upon cancellation of their tickets. For trains cancelled, a full refund of fare is automatically granted to the passengers, who booked their tickets online through IRCTC," an official said.


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