Thrissur: Transport Minister A K Saseendran said Sunday that the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) done 72 special services as rail traffic has been thrown into disarray after the 12 coaches of Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Express derailed at Karukutty near Angamaly during the wee hours on Sunday.
The KSRTC operated services from all district headquarters to Thiruvananthapuram and vice versa.
“More services also run from Ernakulam and Thrissur depots. Directions issued to all depots to run more services. Executive directors and zonal managers asked to take action,” the minister said.
KSRTC has started four special services from Thiruvananthapuram. While three services to Ernakulam and one service to Alappuzha. More buses also deployed according to the rush of the passengers.
P K Mishra, Additional General Manager, Southern Railway and Prakash Butani, Divisional Railway Manager, Trivandrum have rushed to the spot to oversee the relief and rescue operations.
Tickets will be refunded. Buses have been arranged to transport passengers from Karukutty to Chalakudy from where they will be taken to their destination by special trains.
Railway stations and bus terminals are crowded with passengers who are seeking alternatives to reach their destinations. The KSRTC has started services to Thrissur from Ernakulam for passengers who have a train ticket. Special trains have been arranged to Thiruvananthapuram.
The tracks were completely damaged and the derailed bogies have to be removed before undertaking the repair works. It will take at least 10 hours to restore traffic to the Northern side while the services to Southern part can be resumed in 5 hours.
Following the incident, several trains originating from the state capital were either diverted or terminated at selected stations, while some were cancelled.
