Train hits vehicle, services hit

BHUBANESWAR: Hundreds of passengers were stranded for hours after the Howrah-Puri Duronto Express hit a passenger vehicle at an unmanned level-crossing near Barithengarh triggering angry protests by the locals who brought movement of the trains along the busy route to a complete halt on Sunday evening.Well past midnight, till this report was filed, long-distance trains were detained at various stations on either side of Barithengarh which is located between Dhanmandal and Kapilas Road. The incident left hundreds of passengers travelling in the night trains in the lurch. The incident occurred at about 7.40 pm when a Tata ACE which was passing through the unmanned level-crossing was hit by the train. The incident left the driver dead on the spot, while the helper was rushed to the hospital in a critical state. Such was impact of the accident that the mangled vehicle ended up under the engine of the train.  Since the accident took place on the Up route, train movement was blocked on that line. To add to the woes, angry locals blocked the Down route preventing movement of trains on both the lines. As a result, there was a complete breakdown of train traffic along the Howrah-Chennai route. All major trains emanating from Puri and Bhubaneswar were detained at Puri, Bhubaneswar or at Cuttack. Similarly, trains coming from other side were controlled at Bhadrak. “I boarded the train at 9.40 pm and have been held up at Cuttack for the last two and a half hours,” said Ashis Mohanty who was on his on way to Kolkata. With the locals of Barithengan unwilling to relent, the Divisional Railway Manager rushed to the spot. Railway Police sent in its team while a platoon of force was deployed to arrest the deterioration of the situation as the agitators demanded that the unmanned level-crossing be converted into a manned one. “Our officers are on the spot and discussions are on with the locals to arrive at a solution,” Superintendent of Railway Police Bhagyadhar Behera said.