Thiruvallur Freight Train Fire Causes Rs 1.69 Crore Damage To Indian Railways
On July 13, at 05.10 am, a freight train carrying petroleum products had caught fire near Thiruvallur station over Chennai Division of Southern Railway.
A fire on a goods train in Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur on July 13 damaged railway tracks, electrical and signaling infrastructure, with losses estimated at Rs 1.69 crore, the Railways Ministry informed Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Kannur Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran and Nilgiris MP A Raja had asked the Railway Ministry about the fire incident involving a crude oil tanker on a freight train near Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu earlier this month.
In the reply, the Ministry said that on July 13, at 05.10 am, a freight train carrying petroleum products caught fire near Thiruvallur station over Chennai Division of Southern Railway.
'In the incident, 18 wagons of the train suffered damage. At the location of the incident, there was damage to the tracks (sleepers, rails, turnout switch), electrical equipment (overhead equipment mast, catenary and contact wires) and signaling equipment (point machine, bond wires). The cost of damage to the railway infrastructure due to the incident has been estimated to be roughly Rs 1.69 crore," the Ministry said.
An inquiry committee has been constituted by Southern Railway to inquire into the incident, the Ministry added in the written reply.
The Ministry also clarified that immediately upon the occurrence of the incident, Indian Railways controlled the movement of trains and no passenger suffered any injury or loss of property directly due to the incident.
The MPs also asked whether a safety audit had been conducted on the affected section of track under Southern Railway. The Ministry explained that to ensure safety of track, inspection, maintenance and renewal of track is accorded the utmost priority in Indian Railways.
'There are well-laid down inspection and monitoring schedules and guidelines stipulated in Indian Railways manuals for the same… intra-railway safety audits were conducted in the section comprising the location of the incident in February 2024 and before that in
December 2017," the Ministry said.
In both these audits, no specific deficiencies were found in the track, signaling, or communication systems at the incident site. These audits are over and above the regular inspections that have been conducted as prescribed in Indian Railways manuals.
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First Published:
July 30, 2025, 14:02 IST
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