Trains to Chittagong resume nine hours after carriages jump the rails

Chittagong's railway communications with Dhaka and Sylhet are back on track after an inter-city train at Paharhtoli jumped the rails to disrupt services for more than nine hours.

Mohanagar Provati Express from Dhaka was the first train to reach Chittagong Railway Station at 1:50am on Thursday after the snap, Railways Divisional Traffic Officer (East) Firoz Iftekhar told bdnews24.com.

Chandpur-bound Meghna Express, Sylhet-bound Udayan Express and Dhaka-bound Dhaka Mail, which were stuck at the station due to the disruption, would depart anytime, he added.

Four carriages of the Dhaka-bound Mahanagar Godhuli Express went off the rails at the level-crossing near Paharhtoli Railway Station around 3:30pm on Wednesday, said Paharhtoli police OC Ranjit Kumar Barua.

The train, however, left for Dhaka around 4:30pm, leaving the derailed carriages behind.

Fire Service, railway police and security personnel had immediately started the rescue efforts.

Fire Service's Deputy Assistant Director Jasim Uddin told bdnews24.com they had rescued at least 25 passengers from two carriages.

Three of the carriages were found to be on their sides and the fourth one was outside the tracks.

Md Jabed, a passenger, said, "The train had made a sound and come to a halt while passing the level crossing. The bogies at the end jumped the track at the time."

Railway officials said the Chittagong-Dhaka route's 'up line' was shut down in the morning after the engine of a Dhaka-bound container train coming from Chittagong Port derailed near Fouzdarhat station at Sitakunda.

Since then, all trains had been told to take the 'down line' from Paharhtoli to Fouzdarhat, East Zone's Divisional Railway Manager Manjurul Alam Chowdhury told reporters.

Mahanagar Godhuli's four carriages went off the rails in the afternoon when it was changing tracks to take the 'down line', he said.

They were 'damaged a bit', Chowdhury said and added that a relief train was on its way to move the derailed carriages for services to resume.

He said a five-strong committee, led by Divisional Transport Officer Iftekhar, will try to find the cause of the accident and the extent of damage.