Coaches of Bandra-Amritsar Paschim Express detach twice in an hour; passengers safe

Two incidents of uncoupling of coaches of Bandra Terminus-Amritsar Paschim Express were reported within an hour on Sunday in Maharashtra and Gujarat, raising concerns regarding the safety of passengers.

The first incident occurred between Vangaon and Dahanu stations at 1:19 pm, and another at Sanjan station in Gujarat around 2:10 pm, officials said.

"There was no injury or inconvenience caused to any passenger, and there has been no impact on overall train operations," said a Western Railway spokesperson.

Initially, the train was held up for around 25 minutes for the re-coupling of coaches before being allowed to proceed on its onward journey at around 1.46 pm.

The train faced another uncoupling at Sanjan station, the spokesperson said, adding that Carriage and Wagon (C&W) staff from Valsad were mobilised, and a locomotive engine departed from Valsad at 3:15 pm to assist at the site.

The train finally departed at 4:46pm, the spokesperson said.

Railway sources said further technical checks were being conducted to ascertain the cause of the repeated uncoupling of coaches.

On both occasions the same two second AC coaches, which were 17th and 18th from the engine in the 23-coach train, uncoupled.

After inspection, these two second AC coaches were replaced with two third AC coaches, following which the train left from Sanjan after a delay of almost four hours, they said.

Western Railway chief public relations officer Vineet Abhishek said 15 staffers were deputed to shift the luggage from one coach to another when the 2AC coaches were replaced with 3AC coaches.

Also Valsad Medical Association had arranged for tea and breakfast for around 100 passengers.