Hubballi toy train with Joshi, Shettar derails on inaugural run

HUBBALLI:  The toy train in Hubballi’s Mahatma Gandhi Park carrying Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and a host of BJP workers derailed on its inaugural run casting doubts over the safety of the much-awaited project. No one was injured in the mishap.

According to sources, overcrowding of the threecoach train is suspected to have caused the derailment. On Saturday, the redeveloped Mahatma Gandhi Garden, Indira Glass House, toy train, musical fountains and a newly built puzzle parking facility constructed at a cost of Rs 25 crore were inaugurated.

According to an official, Rs 4.2 crore was spent on redesigning the coaches of the train and to replace the old tracks. In the past, there was a similar mishap and since then the service was stopped. A train operator told TNSE that each coach can carry a maximum of six children.

But during the inaugural run, Joshi, Shettar, Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil and about 15 supporters of the two politicians were on the train. “We even cautioned them of the overloading,” said another staffer. The overloaded train derailed along a curve.

After getting off the train, Joshi took the officials to task. Asking them to give priority to safety and security, he said, the officials should ensure that such mishaps do not occur in the future. Meanwhile, a senior Hubballi-Dharwad Smart City Ltd official said, “The actual reason for the derailment will be identified. The train will be thrown open for the public soon.”