22 coaches roll down 15 km without engine in Odisha, major accident averted

Hundreds of passengers had a narrow escape when 22 coaches of the Ahmedabad-Puri express rolled down without any engine for about 15 km in Odisha’s Balangir district and nervous railway staff managed to halt the detached portion of the train by putting stones on the track late on Saturday.

“A case of rolling down of coaches of Ahmedabad-Puri express towards Kesinga side had occurred. This happened due to non-application of skid-brake on the wheels of the coaches by staff concerned,” East Coast Railway said in a statement. All passengers were safe, it said.

The incident occurred at 10.05 p.m on Saturday at Titlagarh, 400 km from Bhubaneswar. At Titlagarh in Balangir district, 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,” admitted ECoR.

Since the section from Titlagarh towards Kesinga has a downward slope, coaches with hundreds of passengers on board started rolling towards Kesinga in Kalahandi district. Passengers and onlookers desperately called out to the onboard passengers to pull the chain. All manned railway-level crossing in the section was immediately alerted and a major accident was averted.

“Control room at Sambalpur took charge of the situation while coaches rolled down automatically. As there was UP gradient, they allowed the coaches to travel up to Kesinga without any intervention. Stopping the train on a down gradient could have resulted in an accident. The level crossing gates were ordered to be closed by the control room. The speed of coaches slowed down at UP gradient making it easier to bring the coaches to halt,” said ECoR.

Later, an engine was sent from Titlagarh to get the coaches back from Kesinga. After an hour of uncertainty, the coaches were pulled back to Titlagarh and attached to the main train.

East Coast Railway General Manager Umesh Singh directed strictest action against the personnel responsible for the lapse and endangering the safety of trains. “Safety is non-negotiable and cannot be compromised with,” said Mr. Singh. Two railway employees were immediately suspended.

Divisional Railway Manager of Sambalpur has ordered a senior officer-level inquiry consisting of divisional heads of operating, safety, mechanical and civil engineering department.