14 runaway coaches derailed

Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 28

A major tragedy was averted at the Chandigarh railway station when 14 extra coaches, lined up at the shunting yard, moved for about one and a half kilometres before derailing. No causality was reported as the coaches were empty when the incident took place at around 11.50 am.

Three coaches -- one used in the inter-city express that runs between Chandigarh and Amritsar and two of the Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi Express -- got damaged in the incident. “These are extra coaches. The incident will not affect the occupancy of the existing coaches of the two trains,” said a senior railway official. He said the cost of each coach was between Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.5 crore, depending on the quality.

The movement of railway traffic on the Chandigarh-Ambala line was not affected due to the derailment.

This is the second such incident in the past month and a half. On November 5, once of the coaches of the Unchahar Express had moved without the locomotive.

A preliminary inquiry by the Railways revealed that the operational staff did not take the necessary precautionary measures to lock the wheels of the coaches.

Ambala Division Railway Divisional Manager Anil Kumar Kathpal said three officials -- chief yard officer and two point men -- had been suspended for negligence in connection with the incident. No precautionary measures were taken by the operational staff for these 14 extra coaches which were lined up in the yard, he said.

Neither were wooden wedges put to jam the wheels of the coaches by the concerned staff nor was the chain lock of the wheels used, which is mandatory for safety reasons. He said an inquiry had been marked by the department to look into the matter to fix responsibility for the negligence. He said initially the department was trying to clear the line and get the damaged coaches repaired.

Sources in the Railways said as per the norms, all coaches which were lined up in the yard should have been jammed by placing wooden wedges and locked using a chain to avoid any such incident.

Officials said foul play could not be ruled out as the coaches were open from all sides and except the point man, there was no security near the yard.

The railway police had a tough time managing residents of the Mauli Jagran and nearby colonies who turned up to see the derailed coaches. Police officials said security would be deployed at night near the yard to avoid any such incident.

* No lessons learnt

After the Unchahar Express incident on November 5, special instructions were issued by the Divisional Railway Manager to avoid any such incident in the future. The official had stated that necessary measures such as use of wooden wedges and locking the wheels with a chain should be taken. However, little heed was paid to the directions.