In yet another derailment in Uttar Pradesh, seven coaches of Jabalpur-bound Shaktipunj Express jumped the track on Thursday near the Obra Dam station in the Sonbhadra district, officials said.
There was no report of any injury in the mishap, Railway ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said in New Delhi.
The train, which was coming from Howrah, went off the track around 6:25 AM between Obra and Fafrakund stations, leading to a disruption in the traffic on the Chaupan-Singharauli route.
Sonbhadra, which shares borders with four states (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar), has a history of Left-Wing Extremist activities. However, Additional Superintendent of Police Awadesh Singh ruled out any Naxal angle behind the act.
Official sources said the train was running at a speed of about 40 km/hr, which might have prevented any injuries being caused to the passengers.
East Central Railway PRO RK Singh said the seven rear coaches of the train had derailed. They were later detached and normal traffic resumed at the derailment site.
Sonbhadra is about 80 km from Varanasi in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
All passengers were accommodated in the remaining coaches and the train left within an hour.
This is third derailment incident in Uttar Pradesh in less than a month and the first since Piyush Goyal was handed over the responsibility of Railways in the recent Cabinet reshuffle after Suresh Prabhu had offered to step down taking moral responsibility for two previous accidents.
Meanwhile, an accident was averted on Thursday as a fracture in the track was detected between Farrukhabad and Fatehgarh, minutes before the Kalindi Express was scheduled to pass, officials said in Farrukhabad.
Alert locals managed to get the Delhi-Kanpur Kalindi Express stopped before the damaged portion of the track, police said.
