Deep slumber broken by a jolt, chaos

A huge shudder and a sharp jerk accompanied by a screeching sound woke me up from my early morning slumber in the air-conditoned coach. The next thing I knew I was on the floor of the compartment. Luggage was strewn around and some of my co- passengers were shouting.

Dazed, we gingerly found our feet and looked out the window of our coach. What we saw confirmed our worst fears — the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express No. 12290 had jumped off the tracks. Most of the passengers on the prestigious superfast, full air conditioned train must have been asleep when the train derailed betweem Vasind and Asangaon stations, a little after 6.30 am. At that point we were barely 65 kilometers and 90 minutes from our destination, the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai. The 18-coach train, with its distinctive green and yellow livery, had left Nagpur at 8.40 pm on Monday. The journey with only two stops in Bhusaval and Igatpuri had been uneventful. Passengers had their dinner, joked, chatted and played cards as attendants brought white bedsheets and blankets for the night.

A spate of train derailments, one of which left 23 people dead on August 19, was far from our minds as we made our beds and went to sleep for the overnight journey. Most of us woke up only when we felt the massive jolt. PTI reporter Justin Rao was on board the NagpurMumbai Duronto express when it derailed. This is his account of the harrowing experience that passengers faced.