KONKAN RAILWAY CANCELS TRAINS AS PROTECTION WALL COLLAPSED AT RATNAGIRI

PANJIM: Four trains were cancelled, five diverted and two terminated after a protection wall collapsed on the tracks near Nivar station in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra causing a major disruption on the Konkan railway route.  Konkan Railway Corporation Limited's (KRCL) chief public relations officer Siddheshwar Telegu said that the protection wall, which was recently constructed to prevent landslides, collapsed at 4.05 am today.

As a precautionary measure, the track has been closed for train traffic immediately and work to clear the track has began, he said.  Konkan region has been receiving incessant rains for the last three days.  KRCL has cancelled four trains including -- Margao-Sawantwadi-Diva Passenger, Mangalore-LTT, Sawantwadi-Madgaon Passenger and Sawantwadi-Dadar which were scheduled today.

Five trains have been diverted which includes Kochuveli -LTT Garib Rath, Trivandrum-Nizamuddin Rajdhani, Kochuveli-Dehradun and Ernakulam-Pune, all via Margao-Londa-Miraj, Telegu said.  The Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Mangala Express has been diverted via Kalyan-Pune. The Diva-Sawantwadi-Margao train has been terminated at Ratnagiri, while CST-Margao has been halted at Diva, he said. – TNN