Derailment at Lalru triggers train delays in Chandigarh

A train derailment incident, involving four petrol tank wagons, occurred while entering the Lalru railway station on Thursday. While no damage to railway property or staff was reported, various trains faced delays due to the derailment.

The incident occurred at 1.56 pm, affecting the up line and impacting Chandigarh-bound train operations. Normal traffic was restored within 45 minutes and full restoration is expected to be completed soon, as per officials.

The Chandigarh Vande Bharat Express, which starts from Ajmer, was delayed by over an hour. It took almost two hours to reach from Ambala Cantt to Chandigarh station.

The afternoon Shatabdi Express from Chandigarh to New Delhi reached Delhi after a 30 minute delay. At the time of filing this report, the evening Shatabdi was running late by at least 51 minutes. The morning Shatabdi had remained unaffected.

The Chandigarh-Lucknow Express, which was supposed to leave Chandigarh station at 5.15 pm, had still not departed at 8 pm. The Paschim Superfast Express was also delayed by over three hours. It reached Ambala at 2.40 pm and was supposed to reach Chandigarh by 3.23 pm, but arrived around 6.45 pm.

The Ambala Cantt-Daulatpur Chowk passenger train was also held up by around three hours. Divisional railway manager (DRM) Ambala Vinod Kumar Bhatia, along with the branch officers concerned, was present to oversee and expedite the restoration work.