In India, Trains Start Running Again by Devastating Crash Site

A coal train, blaring its horn in the dark, was the first of dozens of trains to rumble past the Bahanaga Bazar rail station, the site of one of the deadliest train disasters in India’s history, as rail lines reopened there after midnight on Monday.

The restoration of the important rail route, watched by senior train officials and a crowd of onlookers, was a step toward easing the disruption of the catastrophic crash that killed at least 275 people and injured more than 1,200. Workers toiled over the weekend to clear the wreck and restore the mangled tracks.

But with its return, officials focused their efforts on a somber challenge: identifying about 100 victims whose bodies are lying unclaimed in morgues and hospitals.

About 170 of the bodies had been identified as of Monday, said Pradeep Jena, the chief secretary of Odisha state, adding they were still receiving calls on help lines set up for families of the missing. Mr. Jena said officials hoped to arrive at a final death toll by Monday evening, but that officials were not taking any chances.

“Every paper, every hospital, every reconciliation is very important,” he said.

“Our task is not over,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s railway minister, after the resumption of train service. “We need to make sure that family members of the missing people should reach them as early as possible.”

To help identify them, the state government on Monday released a 168-page document online with images of those who died, along with lists of people being treated at hospitals.