Vehicle turns turtle at level crossing

Kolkata: A loaded Matador van toppled over at a level crossing gate in East Burdwan district’s Talit, Howrah Division, on Monday morning, leading to significant disruptions in train services, including delays to a Vande Bharat Express and two Rajdhani Express trains.

The incident took place at 8.22 am at level crossing gate No. 56 of Talit, the station following Burdwan. According to sources, the van, which was carrying eggs, was travelling towards Burdwan from Guskara on Suri Road.

Sources said that the van attempted to cross the gate while it was descending, resulting in a collision with the rail gate barriers. This caused the vehicle to overturn, leading to damage to both the barriers and the van.

The Eastern Railway (ER) confirmed that the overturned van caused a disruption to train operations in the Barddhaman-Khana section, which lasted nearly an hour. Normal train services were restored by 9.13 am after a road crane successfully removed the vehicle from the tracks.

However, the delay hindered the movement of several key trains, including the Howrah-Bhagalpur Vande Bharat Express, the New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express, the New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, and other Mail/Express and Passenger trains.

In total, nine Mail/Express trains and four Passenger trains were delayed as train movements were temporarily controlled in the affected section.

The incident also led to severe traffic congestion on Suri Road, which was completely blocked due to the overturned vehicle. Commuters faced significant delays as buses and other vehicles were stranded on both sides of the road, adding to the inconvenience on a busy

Monday morning.