Railway Debacles: Shunt Man Dies on Duty, Shalimar Express Derails

Two separate incidents on Saturday have once again underscored the ongoing systemic failures plaguing the Indian Railways.

As per reports, the first incident occured in the early morning hours today when the Secunderabad-Shalimar Superfast Express derailed near Howrah in West Bengal. The weekly special train, running between Howrah and Hyderabad, derailed at Nalpur—approximately 40 km from Kolkata at around 5:30 am.

Three coaches, including a parcel van, a third AC economy coach, and a third AC coach, were affected. Although the train was packed with passengers, fortunately, no casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.

According to a statement issued by the South Eastern Railway (SER), “A parcel van and two coaches of 22850 Secunderabad-Shalimar Weekly Express derailed while passing through Nalpur station of Kharagpur Division at 5.31 am today.”

The site was promptly attended by accident relief and medical relief trains dispatched from Santragachhi and Kharagpur. Additionally, buses were arranged to transport stranded passengers to their destinations.

In a separate incident that further underscored the department's operational vulnerabilities, a railway porter was killed during a shunting operation at Barauni Junction in Bihar’s Begusarai. Identified as Amar Kumar Rao, the porter was on duty at platform 5 of the station, which is part of the Sonpur Railway Division. The accident took place as the Lucknow-Barauni Express (No: 15204) was arriving from Lucknow Junction.

Sources revealed that Rao was attempting to open the coupling when the train unexpectedly reversed, trapping him between the carriages. Despite alarmed onlookers raising the alert, the train driver reportedly abandoned the locomotive, taking no action to prevent the incident. Rao was fatally crushed on the spot.

These incidents have once again drawn attention to the dire state of safety and operational protocols within the Indian Railways. The tragic loss of life at Barauni Junction emphasizes the urgent need for safety measures and a thorough overhaul of standard procedures to prevent such preventable tragedies in the future.

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