Rain, loose soil hamper work to restore tracks

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A 140-tonne crane was brought in from Itarsi to remove the coaches lying on or along the track. Two of the 21 derailed coaches of the two trains were removed on Thursday.

A senior official said the work has been hampered by loose soil. “The rake carrying material will be able to move only when a compartment-length track is restored. Though the normal weight of a coach is less than 40 tonnes, the crane would not find it easy to remove some of the coaches that are stuck in the earth,” he said.

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“A stuck coach entails effort required to shift a 100 tonne unit… Restoration work suffers every time it rains,’’ a senior railway official said.

While there are four JCB machines and a couple of trolleys to transport the material, the initial restoration has been mostly carried out manually. The bent portions of the iron rail are also being replaced.

Since traffic on the Khandwa-Itarsi route has been completely stopped, the first priority is to finish the work on one track under the supervision of senior railway officials.