‘Be Responsible Citizen…’: Indian Railway’s Advice Amid Frequent Train Derailment Bids

The railway ministry on Tuesday issued an advisory on social media platform X amid frequent incidents of train derailment bids have come up across the nation. It said that placing any kind of object on railway track is a punishable offence and urged the people to cooperate the railways in carrying out safe operations.

“Placing any kind of object on the railway tracks or tampering with it is a punishable offense. This can prove fatal for the safety of passengers. Be a responsible citizen and cooperate in safe railway operations,” the ministry said in a post on X.

The advisory came after several incidents of objects being found on railway tracks in a bid to derail trains came into limelight.

Over 15 derailment attempts reported in last 2 months

From laying objects on train tracks to pelting of stones on premium trains such as Vande Bharat have been witnessed across many regions in the country in the past one-and-a-half years, according to the details available with the Ministry of Railways.

Four incidents have been reported within the first 10 days of September. A total of 15 such attempts were reported in August.

Read More: Foreign Objects On Railway Tracks: With 2 Dozen Attempts Since May 2023, Security Agencies Suspect Sabotage

The most recent incident was a cylinder being found on the tracks near Kanpur railway station on Sunday. The matter is currently under the investigation of the Uttar Pradesh Police, along with the intelligence agencies of the state.

Cylinder found on track in Kanpur (Sept 8): The Kalindi Express, travelling from Prayagraj to Bhiwani in Haryana, hit a gas cylinder placed on the track in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The police said that a bottle of petrol and matchboxes were also recovered from the site hinting at a sabotage bid. However, an accident was averted. The incident happened at nearly 8 pm. According to reports, the cylinder was thrown nearly 50 metres away due to the impact of the collision. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chandra said the loco pilot saw that the LPG cylinder was placed on the tracks and applied emergency brakes. The train remained at the incident site for about 20 minutes and was again stopped at the Bilhaur station for a check, the ACP said.

Cement block found on track in Ajmer (Sept 8): An attempt to derail a loaded goods train was made in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district by putting two cement blocks on tracks of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, railway officials said on Tuesday. The goods train did hit the blocks between Saradhna and Bangad stations on Sunday night but nothing untoward occurred, they said. “Some miscreants put two cement blocks on tracks on the dedicated freight corridor on Sunday. A goods train hit these,” a North Western Railway official said and added the incident happened on the corridor’s Phulera-Ahmedabad stretch.

Earlier, a bid was made to derail the Ahmedabad-Jodhpur Vande Bharat express in Rajasthan’s Pali district.

Wooden like objcet found on track in Solapur (Sept 5): A wooden-like object was found on the railway track near Kurduvadi railway station of Solapur, Maharashtra on September 4. However, no accident took place. The sabotage bid was foiled after the loco pilot spotted the block and stopped the train. The GRP registered a case at Kurduwadi (Case No. 98/2024) under sections 125, 126(2) BNS, and 147, 150(1)(a) of the Railway Act against an unknown person. RPF, GRP, and CIB/SUR are coordinating and making joint efforts to arrest the accused.

Read More: Foreign Objects To Stone-Pelting: Tracking Indian Railways’ Troubles In Past 15 Months | Full List Of Incidents

In one of the major incidents that took place in August, 20 coaches of the Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express passenger train derailed near Govindpuri station in Kanpur after the engine hit an “object placed on the track”. All passengers were safely rescued, and no casualties were reported.

Security Agencies Suspect Sabotage

Security agencies suspect that around two dozen incidents of objects being found on tracks since May 2023 could be part of attempts to sabotage the Indian Railways.

The Indian Railways is the statutory arm of Ministry of Railways and one of the most widely used mode of transport. Established in 1951, India has the world’s fourth largest railway network system in terms of the kilometres of tracks that have been laid, and the distance that is covered.