Madurai: The Chennai-Bodi Express train derailed at Madurai Junction on Thursday morning, shortly after arriving from Chennai Central, officials said. The express train (20601) operates between Dr. MGR Chennai Central and Bodinayakanur. It departs Chennai on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and reaches Bodinayakanur the following day.
According to a statement from Madurai Railway Division, the train departed Chennai with an electric engine on Wednesday night (October 30) and arrived in Madurai at 7:10 am on Thursday (October 31). The electric engine was then detached, and a diesel engine was attached for the onward journey to Bodi.
The train departed from platform 5 of Madurai Railway Station at 7:36 am. Immediately after departure, one wheel of the coach next to the engine, a composite coach with a second-class compartment and a compartment for differently-abled passengers, derailed.
No passengers were injured in the incident, and regular train services at Madurai Junction were not affected. The derailed coach was detached from the train, the statement said.
According to the statement, the remaining coaches, with a delay of 1 hour and 18 minutes, departed for Bodinayakanur at 9:28 am. In the recent past, there has been a spate of railway accidents. As many as 19 passengers were injured after the Bagmati Express from Mysuru to Darbhanga collided with a goods train near Kavaraipettai railway station on October 11.
