Rail bridge submerged near Vadodara, train services disrupted

Vadodara, Aug 13 (UNI) Train services between Mumbai and Vadodara were disrupted, as the flood waters of the Vishwamitri river submerged a railway bridge between Makarpura and Varnama stations near here today.

Railway sources said as many as 12 long distance trains, running between Mumbai and Delhi and Mumbai and Ahmedabad, were detained at different stations in central Gujarat since 0710 hrs, due to flooding of the tracks.

The trains had been detained, because the flood waters of the Vishwamitri, which crossed the danger level of 28 ft at Kalaghoda circle in the city this morning, was reportedly flowing more than one foot above the rail bridge number 571, about 15 km from here, the sources said.

Senior railway officials and engineers of the Vadodara Divisional Railway office have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

While 2927 Baroda Express has been stopped at Varnama station, 9109 Gujarat Queen at Palej, 2449 Garib Rath at Bharuch, 6508 Bangalore Express at Kashipur, 9019 Dehradun Express at Miangaon and 6334 Trivandrum Express at Lakodra station.

The other trains detained included 9012 Gujarat Express at Ahmedabad, 2655 Navjivan Express at Anand, 2479 Suryanagri Express at Nadiad, 2996 Ajmer Express at Samlaya, 2926 Paschim Express at Derol and 9115 Sayajinagri Express at Vadodara.

According to senior divisional commercial manager R K Pundhir, train services between Vadodara and Anand section of the Western Railway (WR) have been completely paralysed due to flooding of both the tracks. However, efforts are being made to operationalise the track by noon after taking all necessary safety precautions, he added.

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