Suspended NMR services likely to resume today

On Sunday, moderate and heavy showers were recorded in Coonoor, Burliar and Udhagamandalam in The Nilgiris and Kallar and Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district. As a result, landslips happened in a few places. Boulders fell on the track between Kallar and Adderley railway stations on Monday evening forcing the NMR officials to partially cancel services. A train from Udhagamandalam to Mettupalayam was stopped at Adderley and sent back to Coonoor on Monday evening. 

Railway staff from Coonoor and Mettupalayam were roped in for restoring service. More than 50 personnel were at work blasting the rocks, with a diameter of four to eight feet off the tracks. On Tuesday the rocks were removed and repair works on the track began. The track and pinion racks which were damaged for a stretch of 20 feet were replaced. The repairs were expected to be over by Tuesday night. 

However, service between Coonoor and Mettupalayam would be resumed only by latter part of Wednesday as the paring train which got stuck at Udhagamandalam can come down hill only after the completion of repair works. 

While this forced service on the Coonoor to Mettupalayam section for two days, the services between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam were not affected. This is the second major incident when the train service has been suspended for two or more days in as many months due to boulders landing on the track.