Overview

• Miscreants placed a 10-foot iron rod across tracks near Kaligoundampalayam in Salem district, causing the train to collide and jam its locomotive brakes
• Three sitting Madras High Court judges—Justices N. Sathish Kumar, G. K. Ilanthiraiyan and Krishnan Ramasamy—and two retired justices were among hundreds of passengers on board
• No injuries were reported as Railway Protection Force personnel and local police removed the obstruction and a relief engine from Erode was dispatched
• The incident delayed the Yercaud Express by nearly two hours and disrupted multiple services on the Erode–Chennai route, with the train arriving in Chennai almost four hours late
• Railway authorities and the RPF have opened an investigation into the deliberate derailment attempt and ordered enhanced track inspections and patrols in the region