Train travels 13km without engine, 7 suspended

The railways on Sunday suspended seven employees after 22 coaches of the 18406 Ahmedabad-Puri Express (via Sambalpur), with around 1,000 passengers on board, rolled on for 13km minus the engine in Titlagarh section of the state on Saturday night.

The incident took place when the Puri-bound train arrived in Titlagarh, around 385km from Bhubaneswar, at 9.35pm on Saturday. Here, it was to reverse its direction to head to Puri via Sambalpur in a process called loco or rake reversal. As part of that, the engine is detached and re-attached to the other end of the train, while the coaches are held in place with the help of skid brakes on the wheels. It is suspected that the skid brakes were not applied or did not work properly in this case, resulting in the coaches going off-route and rolling towards Kesinga in Kalahandi district — which is located on a downward slope from Titlagarh.

Train stopped by placing stones on tracks: Sources

An ECoR spokesperson said, “When the engine is detached from one end of the train to be reattached to the other, the coaches should be secured with the help of skid brakes at the wheels. In this case, it appears that these had not been placed properly. The facts will be known after a detailed enquiry.”

The ‘headless’ coaches crossed a bridge over the Tel river and passed Kesinga station before slowing down at a level crossing.

Later, railway staff managed to stop them by placing stones on the tracks, said official sources. After a thorough check, the train — this time with the engine attached — left Kesinga for Titlagarh at 12.35am. It arrived in Puri at 1.30pm, around five hours late.

Source – TOI