A major incident was reported at Ludhiana railway station on Saturday morning when a coach of New Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Special train (04081) developed a fault just as the train was about to leave station.
According to railway officials the incident happened at around 8:45 am when the train started moving from platform an during the initial movement the coupling connecting two coaches reportedly came under pressure and snapped and as a result S-2 sleeper coach suffered structural damage near toilet section.
Officials said the coach body cracked near toilets causing the toilet portion to break apart and some toilet fixtures also fell onto the railway tracks ans the damage led to separation of two connected coaches.
Passengers onboard heard a very loud sound during the incident an many described it as similar to an explosion.
The sudden noise and strong jerk created fear among passengers and some people believed there could have been a derailment or another serious problem while several passengers quickly got down from the coach after feeling impact and noticing the coach tilt slightly to one side.
The train had departed from New Delhi and was travelling to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra when the incident took place during its halt at Ludhiana and soon after the incident, officials from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), local police and railway authorities reached the spot and passengers from the damaged coach were safely evacuated and railway officials stated that no passenger was injured in the incident and they also said the situation could have been much more serious if the fault had occurred while the train was running at high speed.
The damaged coach was detached from the train and railway staff made arrangements to replace it so that the train could continue its journey towards Katra and according to railway officials the preliminary assessment suggests that the damage may have been caused by stress on coupling mechanism when train started moving however the exact cause has not yet been confirmed.
GRP Deputy Superintendent of Police Tejpal Singh said there were no signs of sabotage and that the incident appeared to be a technical fault and railway authorities have started a detailed investigation to determine exact reason behind coach failure.
Officials including Ferozepur Division DRM Sanjeev Kumar and Ludhiana ADCP Sameer Verma are monitoring the matter and railway authorities are expected to provide more information after the investigation is completed.
Fortunately, despite the damage to coach and panic among passengers no injuries were reported and all passengers remained safe.
