Chennai: In a freak accident, the engine of an express train got detached from the rest of the 22 coaches at a railway station near Katpadi junction on Friday after the steel coupling of the engine broke from a passenger coach.
This led to a disruption in train services on the Chennai-Bengaluru route for about two hours, including late running of Brindavan and Double Decker express that connects the capitals of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The accident took place at around 8.50 am at the Tiruvalam railway station in Vellore district when the Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari Vivek Express was heading towards Katpadi railway station. Sources said the engine got disconnected from the rest of the coaches, though all passengers are safe.
It is believed that the engine ran alone for about 500 metres on the same track before it was noticed and stopped.
“Breakage of couplings of the engine is said to be the reason behind the accident. We are investigating,” a source said, adding that the train began its journey after two hours.