Train with 1,500 people rolls 15km minus engine in Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: A train packed with more than 1,500 passengers trundled backwards for about 15km in Odisha on Friday night, before officials realised it was moving on its own on sloping tracks without an engine.
According to railway officials, the locomotive tugging 22 coaches of the Ahmedabad-puri Express was detached at Titlagarh station in Bolangir district around 9.35pm as the engine was required to be attached to the other end of the train for the rest of the journey.
“The coaches should be secured with skid-brakes to the wheels (during shunting). But it appears the skids were not placed or were put improperly. The facts will be known after a detailed inquiry,” said JP Mishra, the public relations officer of East Coast Railway.
The train started sliding back from Titlagarh and railway officials and passengers stopped it by placing stones on the tracks 30 minutes later at Kesinga station — after a free roll at 30kmph.
The ordeal for the passengers didn’t end there as the train again took off, sliding another 7km towards a bridge on the Tel river after Kesinga.
More scare was in store as the bogies rolled back towards Kesinga and stopped just outside the station as more stones placed on the tracks slowed it down.
“It took us some time to realise there was no engine. Strangely, there were no TTES or RPF guards. We tried calling railway officials, but did not get any help. We tried to pull the chain but the train did not stop,” said Sanjay Pediwal, a passenger.
Passengers smarting from the frightening experience raised concerns about railway safety as it could have turned disastrous had there been another train moving from the other side.
The Puri-bound train pulled into Titlagarh junction after travelling 1,460km from Ahmedabad city.
From Titlagarh, the train travels northwards to Puri via Bolangir station. But it rolled southwards on Friday to Kesinga in Kalahandi, which located at a higher altitude.
According to officials, the coaches were allowed to roll till Kesinga as any intervention along the descending gradient would have caused an accident.
East Coast Railway general manager Umesh Singh said eight employees, including the two drivers, were suspended, pending a probe.
“Strictest action would be initiated for any negligence. The inquiry will be over in three days. If necessary more officials will be suspended,” he said.
Safety is a primary focus area in the government’s plans to revamp the world’s fourth-largest rail network that has 12,000 passenger trains and carries 23 million people each day.