Close shave for Duronto Express passengers

KOLKATA - The passengers of the Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express had a close shave after its engine and generator car separated from the rest of the coaches near Uluberia in West Bengal Friday.

The Mumbai-bound train developed a mechanical snag 37 minutes into its journey Friday morning, railway officials said.

The parting occurred near the Uluberia station on the Howrah-Kharagpur section of South Eastern Railway (SER), they added.

After being delinked from the rest of the coaches, the engine and the generator car sped on for about 700 metres before stopping.

The maintenance staff detected a fault in the central buffer coupler of the third coach which got uncoupled from the generator car and engine, SER Chief Public Relations Officer Soumitra Muzumder said.

Muzumder said the train resumed its journey about one-and-half hours later after the engine and the generator car were coupled back with the rest of the train.

Passengers of a coach also complained that the air conditioning system was not working.

“As there was no window in the air-conditioned coach and the air conditioner was not working, many of the passengers complained of suffocation and uneasiness. It was decided that the train will halt at the Kharagpur station to revamp the air conditioner,” an SER maintenance staff member said.

“The cable fault caused due to uncoupling of the central buffer coupler obstructed the flow of cold air in that coach. The problem was fixed within an hour,” Kharagpur Divisional Railway Manager Anil Handa said.

A committee has been set up to find out the reason behind the mechanical fault, Handa said.

The Duronto Express left Kharagpur at 12.47 p.m. for Mumbai, about two-and-half hours behind scheduled time, the SER spokesman said.