Ahmedabad-Puri Express Travels 15 km Without Engine, Nine Suspended

Balangir/Bhubaneswar: Passengers of Ahmedabad-Puri Express had a harrowing time as 22 coaches of the train rolled down without any engine for 15 km from Titlagarh railway station up to Kesinga in Odisha’s Balangir district on Saturday. The detached portion was later halted with stones on the track, averting a major mishap.

Following the incident, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) authorities suspended seven employees, including two engine drivers, three carriage repairing staff, a loco pilot and an assistant loco pilot for alleged dereliction of duty.

The incident occurred around 10  pm at Titlagarh, where the engine reversal of the train usually takes place. As per the manual, when the engine is detached to be attached at the other end, the coaches should be secured with skids at the wheels. “In this case, it appears that the skids have either not been placed or placed improperly,” ECoR admitted.

Later, an engine was sent from Titlagarh to get the coaches back from Kesinga.

“The train had a total of 22 bogies. All the passengers are safe. There have been no injuries. A team of four railway officials has been asked to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and accordingly submit the report within three days,” Sambalpur DRM Jayadev Gupta informed.