Title - Nilam-affected Vishakapatnam,Kirandul rail route reopened

Rail traffic between Vishakatpatnam and Kirandul has finally been resumed. The traffic on the Vishakapatnam-Kirandul route had been suspended for over 10 days after the route, along with whole southern part of India, was hit by Cyclone Nilam. The railway route acts as the life line and the only source of connectivity for the region with different parts of the country. The recent disruption of rail traffic at the Vishakapatnam-Kirandul route has cost `30 crores to the Indian Railways.

Caught in the grip of natural calamity, engine and a few wagons of goods train were greatly damaged and railway routes were disrupted by accumulation of mud and waste with water flow due to the untimely and torrential rains in the region.

The Railway officials and the workers were seen working on a war footing to resume the rail services at the earliest. The tireless efforts of the Railway officials finally saw results as the railway tracks were open for traffic at midnight on Thursday. Taking precautions, the rail services were kept suspended till the completion of the safety checks. Empty racks were sent from Vishakapatnam to Kirandul to check the railway tracks after the repair works were carried out.

Resuming normalcy, the passenger train from Kirandul reached Jagdalpur as it headed towards Vishakapatnam. Similarly, the Kirandul bound passenger train from Vishakapatnam also reached Jagdalpur on schedule.

According to Station Master MR Nayak, the railway has incurred huge loses due to the suspended services for ten days.  “The speed of the trains on the repaired tracks has been limited to 20 kilometres per hour”, informed the station master. Nayak also confirmed that the rail services on the Vishakapatnam-Kirandul route has returned to the scheduled, providing great relief to the people of the region.