Two persons were injured after three bogies of a local train derailed near Maju halt in the Howrah-Amta line of the South Eastern Railway today.
The incident took place at 12.30pm when train number 38909 Howrah-Amta local was entering the halt station. Three bogies from the rear side of the rake were derailed, triggering panic among the passengers. Some of the passengers even jumped off the train, reportedly. As the bogies came off the tracks, gaps in the tracks at a few points were also observed which could have been an impact of the derailment, informed sources.
Train services at the spot of the incident remained disrupted, at least till 5 pm. The incident also resulted in cancellation of a few local trains, including Santragachi-Amta, Amta-Howrah and AmtaSantragachi, according to the SER.
Following the incident, the zonal railway also decided to short-terminate some of the local trains and operates trains like 38913 HowrahAmta, 38915 Howrah-Amta, 38918 Amta-Howrah and 38920 Amta-Howrah as passenger special trains.
Senior officials of the zonal railway along with a medical team rushed to the spot. A relief train was also sent from Santragachi to the spot for taking the on board passengers of the derailed train to their destination. The derailed rake was taken to the Santragachi workshop for further testing.
According to the South Eastern Railway, a committee of senior administrative grade (SAG) has been formed to conduct an enquiry into the incident. As per preliminary reports, ‘track defect’ could be the reason for the derailment of the bogies.