Rough day in office for new Rail minister Piyush Goyal as 3 trains derail
Khandala (Maharashtra): Two wagons of a goods train derailed near Khandala, the third train accident reported in the country on Thursday, a Central Railway spokesperson said.
Two wagons of the train derailed at around 3:55 pm, even as the Railways was dealing with two derailments which happened earlier in the day.
"Two wagons of the goods trains derailed in Khandala this afternoon. We are in the process of clearing the tracks," said Sunil Udasi, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway.
This is the third case of derailment on Thursday.
Seven coaches of Jabalpur-bound Shaktipunj Express jumped the rails near the Obra Dam station in Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh at around 6:25 am. "The accident occurred at around 6:25 am and we have already cleared out the site. All passengers were put on the remaining coaches and by 7:28 am all of them had left the spot. All of them are safe and no one was injured in the accident," Railways Ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said.
Read: UP: 7 coaches of Shaktipunj Express derail, none injured
Later on Thursday, the engine and power car of the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed near Minto Bridge in Delhi at around 11:45 am. One person was injured in the second accident.
The derailments of the Rajdhani and the Shaktipunj Express were the first two accidents after Piyush Goyal took over as the new Railways Minister this week.
Goyal took over the reigns of the Railways Ministry from Suresh Prabhu, who had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following a series of deadly train accidents.
Resigning from the post, Prabhu said he had taken full moral responsibility for the derailements of the Utkal Express and the Kaifiyat Express in August. At least 23 passengers were killed in the Utkal derailment while 15 were injured in Kaifiyat train accident.
However, the post was handed over to Goyal during a major reshuffle of the Union Cabinet. Prabhu was assigned the responsibility of the commerce ministry.
