A major accident was averted when a goods train that moved from Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir without a loco pilot on board, was halted near Unchi Bassi in Punjab’s Dasuya after it had covered around 80 kilometres.
A viral video on social media captured the freight train running driverless along a railway track, propelled by a natural slope and reaching high speeds. The train, reportedly travelling at 100 kilometres per hour, was halted using emergency brakes.
All railway crossings on the route were immediately closed for road traffic and some mechanical methods were used to slow down the train, said railway police ASI Gurdev Singh. He said officials were arriving from Ferozepur railway division to investigate the matter.
News agency ANI reported that the train’s movement was attributed to the natural downward slope towards Pathankot in Punjab. The divisional traffic manager of Jammu confirmed that an investigation into the incident has been initiated.
News agency ANI shared footage of the train after it was stopped near Uchi Bassi. No immediate reports of injuries or casualties were received.
Railway police ASI Gurdev Singh said that all railway crossings along the route were promptly shut down for road traffic, and various mechanical methods were deployed to decelerate the train. He further said that the officials from the Ferozepur railway division were en route to conduct an investigation into the incident.
Further details are awaited.
In a similar incident dating back to 2016, passengers aboard the Madgaon-Nizamuddin Rajdhani experienced a fortunate escape when the train’s engine encountered a malfunction, leading to what was described as a “driver-less” journey for about 15 kilometres on a downward slope.
Despite initial reports of the train running without a driver, Konkan Railway chairman and managing director, Sanjay Gupta, refuted such claims, although he acknowledged a “loco failure” had occurred, resulting in the train rolling for a period.
The malfunction caused the engine’s vacuum brake system to deactivate, allowing the train to move downhill. It eventually slowed down on an incline, where the driver applied the brakes to bring it to a stop. Subsequently, another engine was dispatched to tow the train to Chiplun, the next station. Thankfully, there were no casualties or loss of life reported.
