KOZHIKODE: A coconut tree fell over the engine of a running train while passing through Koyilandy-Tikkotti section on Wednesday. Railway officials said a coconut tree, standing on private land, fell over the engine of Netravati Express Special (Train No:06346) at 5:48pm. The train was proceeding from Thiruvananthapuram to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai. The front windshield of the engine was broken in the accident.
However, a major mishap was averted as there were no injuries to passengers or crew of the train. Train traffic towards Kannur from Kozhikode was affected leading to delays in the running of three other trains following the incident.
Netravati Express was moved to Koyilandy station by a relief loco engine from Kozhikode and it resumed journey at 9:10pm after a delay of three hours and 20 minutes. Tirunelveli-Dadar Express and Coimbatore-Kannur Express were delayed by 45 minutes while Mangaluru-Chennai Superfast train was delayed by 40 minutes.
Railway officials said that they had identified the particular tree as vulnerable and had issued a notice to the land owner to cut it down.
