Passengers laud railway’s response after near mishap

NAGPUR: Most of the passengers in A2 coach of 15015 Gorakhpur-Yeshvantpur Express were all praise for railway authorities, despite the harrowing experience after the train’s wheel broke, delaying their journey by 12 hours.

Pratibha Shrivastav, 39, whose right elbow suffered a hairline fracture, said she was relaxing with her two daughters when the loud noise triggered panic in the coach, as passengers ran for safety. “Initially, I had no clue of the injury, apart from the pain which grew sharper with time, and the arm started swelling. We were running for cover without understanding what the loud sound was all about,” she said. “I don’t know what had struck me,” said Pratibha, who boarded the train from Lucknow, where she had gone to meet her parents. Pratibha was heading to Secunderabad, where her husband Prabhat Kumar, a defence personnel, is posted.

Pratibha’s co-passengers believe some luggage bounced up and hit her right forearm, as a piece of the wheel rammed the coach from below when it broke while running at a speed of at least 100 kmph.

Vikas Singh, travelling with wife Neelam, was initially slammed by the three Railway Protection Force (RPF) staffers for pulling the chain. But his decision was later lauded as the right one, as RPF staffers themselves pulled the chain the second time, on seeing the broken wheel. “The sound apart, there was a crack in the floor, which left us more panicked,” he said. Singh, however, along with his co-passenger Neeraj Sinha, extolled the quick actions of railway authorities, which rescued them in the panic hour.

Sinha, an aviation engineer, said there should be regular inspection of wheels and periodic maintenance exercises. “The technical staffers of the railways informed me that the trains are usually visually inspected before trips. This practice is not adequate to prevent accidents of this sort,” he said.

Sunita Tiwari, who was travelling with pregnant daughter-in-law Prachi, was in A1 coach, where many of the passengers from affected A2 were shifted. She sounded miffed as the railway ambulance and relief did not reach immediately after the incident. The Tiwaris, who were supposed to get down at Nagpur, opted to summon their family members with a car to the accident spot, and discontinued their train journey.