Guwahati: A passenger train carrying nearly 900 passengers rammed into a safety dead-end track near Guwahati Wednesday morning after reportedly losing braking control, derailing its locomotive and five coaches. Eight passengers suffered minor injuries.The accident occurred at around 6:54 am near Digaru railway station, about 44 km east of Guwahati, when the 13125 Kolkata-Sairang Express was being diverted to a loop line to allow another train to pass.Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) additional general manager Ramesh Kumar said the precise cause of the accident would be established only after a detailed probe. “Preliminary investigation suggests that the train could not be brought under control and collided with a dead-end, causing it to derail,” Kumar said.The train had left Kolkata at around 10:45 pm on Tuesday and crossed Guwahati at approximately 6:30 am. It was scheduled to reach Sairang in Mizoram on Wednesday afternoon. Most passengers were headed to south Assam’s Barak Valley and Mizoram.“The train got derailed today at about 6:54 am at Digaru Railway station in the Guwahati-Lumding section while entering the loop line for giving precedence to another train. As a result, 5 coaches along with the locomotive got derailed,” said NFR chief public relations officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma.A video purportedly recorded inside the locomotive cabin later surfaced on social media. In it, the loco pilot can be heard saying, “Signal red hai, Digaru. Emergency laga hua hai lekin kam nehi kar raha hai. SA9, A9 kuch bhi kaam nehi kar raha hai,” indicating that the emergency braking system was not responding.The video ends with the locomotive crashing into the dead-end track before coming to a halt with a heavy jolt.The investigation will focus on why the train failed to stop while being diverted to the loop line, including the circumstances surrounding the reported brake failure.Sharma said, “All passengers of the train are safe and no major injuries have been reported”; he added.Eight passengers were taken to Sonapur district hospital with minor injuries and were later discharged, an official said.Railway authorities arranged a special train for the stranded passengers. It left Digaru at 11:40 am for Sairang, allowing them to resume their journey.Rescue and restoration work began immediately. “Normal train operation through the Up line has already been restored, and all the trains through the Up & Down lines are running normally. Trains that were controlled at different stations also resumed their onward journey accordingly,” Sharma said.However, the accident resulted in the cancellation of three trains — Guwahati-Haibargaon-Guwahati DMU, Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Intercity Express and New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati Intercity Express.Senior railway officials, including the general manager of NF Railway, visited the site to supervise relief and restoration work and review the circumstances leading to the accident.
