Varanasi Jn (BSB): The slow speed of 55132 up Manduadih-Chhapra passenger train helped in averting a major tragedy as one its bogies derailed and partially overturned while the train entered the Varanasi City railway station on Tuesday afternoon. The train traffic on Varanasi-Audihar main line has been stopped due to which trains moving on Varanasi- Chhapra and Varanasi-Gorakhpur lines were delayed. According to eye witnesses, the train entered the Varanasi City railway station at around 3.50 pm. The moment the engine touched the platform number one, a bogie attached just behind it derailed and partially overturned. As the train was in slow speed it stopped immediately after the derailment of the bogie and averted a major tragedy. Passengers standing on platforms and railway employees immediately swung
into...
more... action to rescue the injured passengers immediately. Fortunately only a few passengers suffered minor injuries in the incident and were provided first aid at the station. However, the public relation officer (PRO) of North Eastern Railway (NER) Varanasi division, Ashok Kumar denied that anyone suffered injuries in this incident as the number of passengers on board was meager. The divisional railway manager, NER Ajay Vijayvargiya along with other senior officers of the division reached the Varanasi City railway station. The cops from several police stations also reached the incident site. The railway officials refused to make any comment on the incident and said only initial investigation would reveal the cause of derailment. However, they
said technical error and not human error is suspected to be the cause of incident. One of the reasons evident at the site is the broken railway track and
it is suspected that similar damages in the railway track led to derailment. Following the incident, the Varanasi- Audihar main line was blocked and affected the movement of trains on Varanasi-Chhapra and Varanasi- Gorakhpur routes. Kumar said mainly the Kisan Express and Chhapra-Durg Sarnath Express were delayed due to the incident. The process of opening the Varanasi-Audihar main line by detaching the derailed bogie and shifting rest of the bogies on other line has been started by 5 pm. The officials hoped that the Varanasi-Audihar main line would become clear for the train movement by late evening.