Train runs 80 km without drivers

Train runs 80 km without drivers

A diesel goods train travelled nearly 80 km from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua to a village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district without its drivers on Sunday, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing officials. No casualty or damage to property has been reported and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident that took place between on Sunday morning, between 7.25 am and 9 am.

The 53-wagon train loaded with chip stones was on its way to Punjab from Jammu, the officials said. The train had stopped at the Kathua railway station in Jammu for a driver change and it seems that it began to roll down a slope gradient track on the Jammu-Jalandhar section, a spokesperson of the Northern Railway said, citing preliminary information.

Both drivers – loco pilot and assistant loco pilot – were not on board the freight train, the officials said. The train gained speed along the way, finally coming to a stop on a steep gradient near Unchi Bassi railway station in Punjab, they said.

Divisional Traffic Manager, Jammu, Prateek Srivastava told PTI that “an inquiry has been initiated to know the exact cause of the incident. Prima facie, it seems that the train started rolling down the slope gradient towards Punjab without the driver and his assistant”.

He said the train came to a halt near Unchi Bassi due to steep gradient, after covering a distance of more than 70 km. The officials said that the train was successfully halted with the assistance of sandbags. Railway officials and staffers were put on alert along the route and all rail-road crossings on the Jalandhar-Pathankot section were secured.

Earlier this month, ten bogies of a goods train derailed near Sarai Rohilla Railway station in Delhi and a rag-picker was killed in the accident. The body of the 70-year-old rag-picker, identified as Rafiq, was recovered from under a bogie, a railway police official said, adding he was working under a contractor hired by the railways, along with three other workers.

“During inquiry from the co-workers and examination of the accident site, prima facie no foul play has been noticed,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) KPS Malhotra said. The accident occurred on Saturday morning when the train was passing under the Zakhira flyover.

“Iron sheet rolls were loaded in the goods train which was going towards Chandigarh from Mumbai,” the officer said.

A video clip of the incident also surfaced in which the train boogies were seen getting derailed. In the video, the residents could be seen running away as the accident took place.

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