Thirteen coaches of the Bandra-Jodhpur Suryanagari Express derailed near Rajasthan's Pali in the early hours of Monday, leaving 26 passengers injured, officials said.

The injured, two of them seriously hurt, have been admitted at the Bangad Hospital in Pali, they said, adding the incident led to the disruption of traffic on the route with 14 trains being diverted, six cancelled and one partially cancelled.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reached the site in the evening and took stock of the situation. He announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh to one seriously injured passenger and Rs 25,000 each to 16 passengers. The railways provided the amount to the injured in the hospital itself.

Vaishnaw also talked to the injured passengers on the phone and enquired about their health. He ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety and said appropriate action would be taken after the probe.

North Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Shashi Kiran said train no. 12480 (Suryanagari Express) had just left Marwar Junction from Pali on its way to Jodhpur when the incident happened.

"At about 3.27 am, 13 coaches of the train derailed of which three capsized (overturned). Twenty-six passengers sustained injuries in this accident. We instantly launched a rescue operation and sent support with senior officers along with the DRM from Jodhpur. Injured were rushed to the hospital in Pali," said Kiran.

However, by the evening 18 of them were discharged from the hospital, he said.

Later, nine coaches of the train left for Jodhpur, leaving the derailed coaches behind. A total of 1,135 passengers were travelling in the train, and 725 of them were transported to the destination in the nine coaches, 185 passengers by government buses and the remaining passengers by private means, officials said.

Most passengers were asleep when the incident happened, and a majority of affected coaches were sleeper class. Coaches S3, S4 and S5 overturned and drifted as far as 80 metres.

The train had also been carrying a batch of about 150 scouts from different southern states who were going to take part in the Scout Guide Jumboori, scheduled to be organised in Pali's Rohet from January 4-10.

Officials said the scouts were safe and were sent to their destination in buses.

Efforts are on for the restoration of the track on a war footing, they said.

Earlier in the day, the railway minister said in a statement, "Constantly monitoring the unfortunate accident of the Bandra-Jodhpur Suryanagari Express. Emergency assistance and timely medical support were ensured. Compensation also granted: Rs 1 lakh towards grievous injuries and Rs 25,000 towards minor injuries." The NWR shared a video in which a passenger says, "Three coaches S3, S4 and S5 were majorly affected. The air-conditioned coaches remained unaffected. We have come to Luni in the same coaches." The passenger also said that ambulances and other facilities were arranged for the injured within about 15-20 minutes.

Senior NWR officials are monitoring the situation in the control room in Jaipur, the official said.

The railway helpline numbers are: For Jodhpur -- 0291- 2654979(1072), 0291- 2654993(1072), 0291- 2624125 and 0291- 2431646 and for Pali Marwar -- 0293- 2250324 and 138 1072.

Meanwhile, an official said in Delhi that it appears the derailment was caused by a fracture in the rail.

Incidentally, the derailment occurred days after a Comptroller and Auditor General report raised concerns over the maintenance of tracks over the railway network. The report tabled in Parliament on December 21 has said that the zonal railways are ignoring track repair and monitoring rules set by the Railway Board.

The CAG said that according to the rules of the Railway Board, the track should be inspected once in two months on major railway routes with ultrasonic machines.

It flagged shortfalls in ultrasonic flaw detection (USFD) testing in rails and welds during the four-year period between 2017 and 2021.

An ultrasonic detection machine detects rail fractures which are not visible to the naked eye during trackman inspection.

The shortfall was 50 per cent in Northern Railway in respect of USFD testing in rails, the report found.

In North Western Railway, where the incident occurred on Monday, the shortfall was 11 per cent and in South Western Railway, it ranged between 4-41 per cent. PTI AG ASG COR TIR TIR

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