Narrow escape for passengers as train hits stone-laden trolley

Agartala: Around 1,000 passengers had a narrow escape as a wheel of the engine of Agartala-Sabroom local train slightly derailed in Tripura on Saturday after hitting a stone-laden trolley, which the workers had mistakenly left, on the single line track. No one was hurt in the accident.

Officials said that the driver of the Sabroom (southern Tripura) bound passenger train saw a stone-laden trolley on the track and he stopped the train at Gautamnagar, near the Bishalghar rail station under the Sepahijala district.

However, the trolley got struck in the train and a front wheel of the train engine slightly went off the track.

At the time of the incident, around 1,000 passengers were on board.

According to Sajal Paul, a passenger, the train departed from Agartala railway station to go to Sabroom, a sub-divisional town along Bangladesh border in south Tripura district. The train suddenly stopped and jolted after colliding with the trolley causing a panic among the passengers.

He said, following the collision, as the train came to a halt, passengers hurriedly disembarked from the train.

Railway officials, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel arrived at the spot, 27 km south of Agartala.

Agitated passengers said that the incident shed light on the “negligence” of both the workers, supervisors and the station master of the Bishalghar railway station.

Passengers raised questions regarding safety protocols and the reasons behind leaving stone-laden trolleys on the rail tracks during train operations.