Southern Rly cancels trains

The Southern Railway has cancelled several trains plying between Rameswaram and other destinations across Tamil Nadu, due to the damage to the century-old Pamban bridge which was hit by a barge.

As many as 10 trains connecting Rameswaram-Madurai, Tiruchirapalli-Rameswaram, Rameswaram-Kanniyakumari were cancelled due to the damage of a pier of Pamban bridge, Southern railway said in a statement. Yesterday, the bridge was damaged.

And rail link to Rameswaram disrupted as a barge towing a naval ship, which had run aground, drifted and collided with it.

According to Southern Railway, Kanniyakumari-Rameswaram Express and Rameswaram-Kanniyakumari express trains were cancelled from January 15 to January 19. The Chennai Egmore-Rameswaram and Rameswaram to Chennai Egmore express were partially cancelled between Mandapam and Rameswaram, it said.

Similarly, Tirupati-Rameswaram-Tirupati, Okha-Rameswaram-Okha Express, were cancelled upto January 18, 2013 while Varanasi-Rameswaram Express, Rameswaram-Varanasi Express is partially cancelled between Mandapam-Rameswaram on January 16, the release said.