Runaway train was not secured: Probe blames engine, stn staff

The engineers of a freight train that rolled down from Kathua station on Sunday morning and travelled roughly 75km with no one in control did not adhere to protocol to deploy adequate number of brakes and track wedges when they parked the locomotive, a preliminary inquiry into the incident has found, according to details accessed by HT.

- Neha LM Tripathi

Six people have been suspended and the initial inquiry blames four people-both engineers (also referred to as loco pilots in official parlance) who were on duty, and the pointsman and the station master of Kathua station for Sunday morning's incident when the 53-wagon freight train barrelled on for close to two hours, at times reaching 75km/hr.

The train was halted at Uchi Bassi station in Punjab after railway staff placed sandbags and other track impediments before an uphill gradient helped bring it to a halt.

The report has said that the train rolled "down from line number 3 towards Pathankot Cantt was no proper stabling done by loco pilot Sandeep Kumar, assistant loco pilot Pradeep Kumar and pointsman Sh. Mohd Sami".

A pointsman is a trackside staffer responsible for a number of tasks, including ensuring parked trains are secured in place and track points are correctly aligned.

The report also blamed station master Triveni Lal Gupta.

The two men who helmed the train till Kathua left the engine at the end of the shift, it found.