RailEnquiry

KOLKATA: Passengers on 12260 New Delhi - Sealdah Duronto Express had a narrow escape after the train ran into a herd of cattle near the Ranigunj station on Friday afternoon. Though the train didn't derail and there was no injury to passengers, the locomotive suffered some damage and had to be replaced before the train resumed its journey towards Sealdah. The train, which was already running behind schedule by over three and half hours when it reached Ranigunj, was further delayed by nearly two hours while the locomotive was replaced and necessary checks carried out.Sources in the railways claimed that the train might have derailed had it been moving even close to its top speed of 120 km per hour. Passengers were served sandwiches, fruit juice and bottled water at Durgapur after they complained of the delay. Some passengers also complained that the toilets had run out of water by the time the train started from Ranigunj."The incident happened just outside the Ranigunj station after the train ran over a cow at 1.40 pm. The cow-catcher of the locomotive was damaged and had to be removed. The train started from the spot at 2.35 pm after all the coaches were checked for any damage. It reached Ranigunj station at 2.42 pm where the locomotive was replaced. It finally left Ranigunj at 3.25 pm. As there are no facilities on board the train to serve lunch to passengers, arrangements were made at Durgapur. Passengers were served meals there," an Eastern Railway spokesperson said.According to experts, immediate steps need to be taken to prevent the movement of cattle on tracks used by high-speed trains like the Durontos and Rajdhanis. The Duronto runs non-stop between New Delhi and Sealdah (save for four technical stops for crew change).Unprotected tracks are a major problem due to which the railways are unable to run trains at top-speed. The Rajdhani and Duronto coaches can move at speeds of up to 140-150 km per hour but they are not allowed to do so as the tracks are unfenced. Even if the train had run into a herd of cattle at 120 km per hour, there could have been a derailment due to the impact," one of them said.