Puri Vande Bharat passes through triple train accident site after tracks restoration

Balasore: The first high speed passenger train - Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express - after the triple train accident, passed through Balasore on Monday morning on restored tracks, officials said.

Vande Bharat Express crossed the Bahanaga Bazar Station around 9.30 am on Monday, they said.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was present at the accident site and waved to the drivers when the semi-high speed train passed through, the officials said.

The restoration work of both the up line and down line tracks was completed on Sunday night, Vaishnaw said.

A coal-laden goods train from Vizag port to Rourkela Steel Plant ran on the track at around 10.40 pm on Sunday night. The goods train ran on the same track. Trains are passing through accident site at slow speed.

The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at 7 pm on June 2.

A few coaches of Coromandel toppled over the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time.

Investigators are looking into possible human error, signal failure and other possible causes behind the three-train crash.