Passengers, stranded in trains due to floods at Kondapalli station, being shifted to Vijayawada railway station on an APSRTC bus on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Kondapalli station
About 20 trains were stopped at various stations between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and thousands of passengers were struck as a result of floods on Sunday (September 1, 2024).
The South Central Railway (SCR) has shifted the passengers and arranged special trains to transport the stranded passengers to Chennai, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam, said the Vijayawada Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr. DCM), V. Rambabu.
“The Tamilnadu, Charminar and Godavari Express trains were halted at Kondapalli and Rayanapadu stations as water was overflowing on the tracks,” Mr. Rambabu told The Hindu.
SCR Chief Public Relations Officer, A. Sridhar, said “The trains were stopped near Kesamudram, Dornakal, Khammam and other places as a precautionary measure as breaches occurred due to floods and tracks were inundated in rainwater.”
“On the directions of Vijayawada Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Narendra A. Patil, the passengers trapped in Godavari, Charminar and Tamilnadu Express trains were shifted to Vijayawada railway station,” Mr. Rambabu said.
“All the passengers are safe. APSRTC buses and tractors were arranged to shift the stranded passengers,” the Senior DCM said.
“Tamilnadu Express was stopped at Rayanapadu railway station around 1 a.m. Thanks to the railway authorities who arranged buses and saved us,” said a passenger, Anantharam.
The railway officials arranged cranes to evacuate the passengers trapped in two bogies in floods waters, said SCR Vijayawada PRO, Nusrath M. Mandrupkar.
“Food, milk and drinking water was supplied to the stranded passengers at Rayanapadu, Kondapalli and Vijayawada railway stations,” the PRO said.
Besides, many trains were cancelled and diverted due to heavy rains and floods, Ms. Nusrath said.
