Hubballi: Toy train's maiden ride ends in mishap as bogie derails

HUBBALLI: There was much excitement in the run-up to the flagging off of the Toy Bullet Train at Mahatma Gandhi Park in Hubballi, but it all ended in an anti-climax, although it could have been a lot worse. Flagged off on Saturday by Dharwad MP and Union minister for parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi, who hopped on the train along with deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, Hubballi-Dharwad Smart City Ltd managing director Shakeel Ahmed among others, a bogie derailed not more than 50m into the ride.
The driver wasted no time in applying the brakes once the bogie had derailed, and the VIPs, none of whom was in the coach in question, disembarked quickly. A visibly dismayed Joshi sought to know who the engineer of the train was. He subsequently pulled of officials for the mishap, reprimanding them for not putting in place adequate safety measures. The Union minister directed the officials to prevent such mishaps from recurring.
Both Joshi and Shettar also inspected the bogie that had derailed. An official who participated in the ceremony attributed the accident to overloading. Pointing out that the train could only carry 42 adults or 60 children, the official said, "Although we warned them about the train being overloaded, the minister's followers did not heed our warning, and boarded the train, which resulted in the derailment."
The train and the track, which runs to a length of 960m, were developed at an estimated cost of Rs 4.2 crore. With two engines, four air-conditioned bogies, closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and automatic doors among other hi-tech features, it is equipped with advanced technical machinery.
Services of the erstwhile toy train at the park were suspended after Shubam Raju Kalal, a primary school student, died when he fell out of a bogie 12 years ago. The train was subsequently upgraded as part of the Smart City project.