Mahalaxmi Express got stranded due to sudden flooding: Goyal

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Express got stuck between Badlapur and Vangni stations near here in the wee hours of July 27 because of a sudden flooding of tracks.

Around a thousand passengers were rescued from the train in a multi-agency operation on Saturday afternoon.

Addressing railway officials across the country through video conferencing, Goyal said he reviewed what led to the incident.

"A suburban train had just passed the section before the Mahalaxmi Express left Badalapur station," he said.

"Until then, tracks were not inundated at threatening level. After that, all of a sudden, floodwaters inundated the tracks forcing the Mahalaxmi Express to stop," the minister said.

Saying that it was extremely unfortunate that passengers had to suffer, Goyal added that he would like to thank them for "their support and patience they showed".

He also thanked the National Disaster Response Force, the state agencies, Badalapur villagers and Railway personnel for their role in the rescue of passengers.

The Indian Railways was on "mission mode" and is going to invest a mammoth Rs 50 lakh crore in the next 12 years, the minister said.

Meanwhile, the 64th Rail Week National Awards function was held here Tuesday.

It was attended by V K Yadav, Chairman of the Railway Board, members of the Railway Board, general managers of all zones and others.

Yadav gave away medals, cheques and certificate to 133 awardees from different zones and production units of Indian Railways.

The event was organised by the Central Railway this year. Usually it takes place on April 16, but this year it could not take place due to the model code of conduct.