Rajdhani rolls down, gives passengers quite a scare

TNN | Jun 29, 2016, 

Margao: Anxious moments were witnessed by passengers of the Margao-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express on Monday after the train ran down a slope, apparently uncontrolled by the loco driver, for quite a few kilometres near Chiplunfollowing engine failure.

The driver gained control of the locomotive and applied the brakes only after the train reached the end of the slope, sources said.

It is learnt that the engine developed a technical snag rendering it "dead" as the train was approaching Chiplun. While the technicians were attending to the problem, the train all of a sudden began to run down the slope, taking the engine crew unawares.

While unconfirmed reports said that the train ran "driverless" for a few kilometres, official sources of the Konkan Railway - the incident occurred on the Konkan Railway route - maintained that the loco-pilot was very much inside the locomotive when the incident occurred.

"The train did roll for some distance. The driver later applied the brakes and brought it to a halt. Therafter, the train was moved to the Chiplun station after the engine was replaced," Baban Ghatge, deputy general manager, PR, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), told TOI.

A departmental inquiry into the episode has already been ordered, Ghatge added.