In a serious safety lapse, two AC coaches of the Bandra-Amritsar Express got detached twice within an hour on Sunday, first in Palghar district of Maharashtra and then again after crossing into Gujarat. However, no injuries were reported, but railway officials acknowledged the incident could have had severe consequences.
The first detachment occurred at 1.19 pm in Palghar. Alert railway staff quickly attended the site and reconnected the bogies, allowing the train to resume its journey by 1.46 pm.
Barely 25 minutes later, at 2.10 pm, the same two coaches detached again when the train halted at Sanjan station in Gujarat. Technical teams immediately attended to the problem. Western Railway officials confirmed that the faulty 2-tier AC coaches would be replaced with 3-tier AC coaches at Valsad station to ensure passenger safety.
Probe ordered by railway authorities
Railway authorities have ordered an inquiry to determine the exact cause of the repeated detachment. Officials said such incidents can occur due to either material faults in the couplers or lapses in maintenance. “Instances of coaches detaching mid-journey are rare and taken very seriously. Nationwide checks of coupler assemblies are often conducted after such incidents to ensure safety standards are maintained,” a railway official was quoted by TOI as saying.
At Valsad, passengers of the 2-tier AC coaches were shifted to available 3-tier AC coaches to avoid further risk. “All passengers are safe, and there was no disruption to train operations,” said a Western Railway spokesperson.
The Bandra-Amritsar Express is a daily superfast service connecting Mumbai to Punjab and usually carries heavy traffic on Sundays due to festive and long-weekend travel. Officials called the absence of injuries “sheer luck,” as the detachment occurred when the train was not at high speed.
Railway authorities said the matter is being treated with utmost seriousness, with corrective measures planned to prevent recurrence. A passenger rights activist suggested that affected passengers should be offered partial or full refunds, as they had to endure the inconvenience of shifting from 2-tier to 3-tier coaches during the journey.
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