A total of seven trains had to be diverted and two others cancelled after a goods train jumped tracks on the Howrah-Delhi section at Tankuppa railway station under Dhanbad railway division bordering Jharkhand-Bihar early on Tuesday.

According to Dhanbad railway officials, the Tankuppa railway station lies between Koderma (in Jharkhand) and Gaya (in Bihar) and comes under Gaya district administration for civil issues. In railway parlance, it falls under Dhanbad railway division of East Central railway zone and under the Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord section.

According to the chief public relation officer of East Central railway, Virendra Kumar, three wagons of the goods trains got derailed around 3.15am on the up-line between Howrah-Delhi which led to disruption of train services for nearly 12 hours.

“The train services were restored on the up-line at around 3.30 pm. Technical personnel from Gomoh and Gaya stations reached the site and repaired the track,” the official added. The trains which ran on diverted routes include the Howrah-Rishikesh Doon Express, Howrah-Kalka Mail, Howrah- Gandhidham Express, Howrah-Bikaner Express, Howrah- CST (Mumbai) Express, Sealdah – Ajmer Superfast Express, Calcutta-Jammu Tawi Express and SealdahAnand Vihar Terminus (Delhi) Express.

Another important train which ran on a diverted route was the Puri- New Delhi Purushottam Express While trains which had to be cancelled include, Dhanbad-Dehri-on-Sone Intercity and Asansol – Varanasi Express. The diverted trains went via Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction, Jhajha, Patna and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Gomoh Junction. Railway officials said that a probe has been initiated to know the exact reason for the derailment.