Chaos on the Trans-Siberian Railway as Russian coal train derails tearing up 1,000ft-stretch of track and blocking the famous route beloved by tourists
- Twenty-nine carriages derailed in the Irkutsk region close to Lake Baikal today
- Overhead power lines were torn down and some 1,000ft of track was damaged
- Emergency trains were sent to scene bringing workers to clear the spilled coal
Part of the world’s longest railway was blocked today after 29 carriages of a coal cargo train fell off the tracks, causing delays of up to eight hours.
A section of the famous Trans-Siberian line was blocked after the derailment on the Delyur-Tyret section of the East Siberian Railway, some 2,918 miles east of Moscow.
There wasn’t any reports of injuries, but overhead power lines were torn down and some 1,000ft of track was damaged in both east and west directions, say reports.
Twenty-nine carriages filled with coal derailed in the Irkutsk region close to Lake Baikal today
Pictures showed the derailed cargo carriages blocking the famous railway in the Irkutsk region close to the Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world.
Emergency trains were sent to the scene bringing workers to clear the track and restore broken overhead power cables.
The incident was today delaying trains on the seven-day long Moscow to Vladivostok route across Russia, a favourite of tourists.
Trains from Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar to Moscow were hit by the delays too.
‘Train movements in both directions on the Trans-Siberian railway were blocked in the aftermath of the accident,’ reported The Siberian Times.
Two major passenger services were delayed up to eight hours, said Arkady Petshik, chief of corporate communications for East Siberian Railway.
Dozens of workers and several diggers tried to clear the track and fix overhead power cables
The incident earlier today meant that trains on the seven-day long Moscow to Vladivostok route across Russia, a favourite of tourists, were delayed
Staff ‘are doing everything in our power to fix the damage as soon as possible and restore the normal train timetable’.
The most serious delays are on a service from Ulaanbaatar to Moscow, and another from Moscow to Vladivostok
The cause of the incident is being investigated.
A railway source said: ‘Twenty nine carriages containing coal derailed on the Delyur-Tyret’ section of the East Siberian Railway [part of the Trans-Siberian Railway] in Zalarinsky District [of Irkutsk Region] … The traffic in both directions is blocked.’