Another Derailment Bid? Train Hits Stone Placed on Railway Track in UP, No Damage Reported

Ballia (UP): The engine of a train hit a stone placed on the railway track in the Bairia area in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia on Saturday, officials reported, adding that no damage was caused.

The incident assumed significance as it was a fresh one amid several cases of gas cylinders, pillars etc being found on railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh. 

Quick Response Prevents Potential Accident

Public Relations Officer of the North Eastern Railway Ashok Kumar notified PTI that on Saturday a stone was found on the railway track between the Varanasi-Ballia-Chhapra rail section at 10.25 am.

He told the cattle guard of the engine of the 15054 Lucknow-Chhapra Express going from Lucknow to Chhapra ( Bihar ).

Kumar said that on noticing the stone placed on the track, the loco pilot applied emergency brakes.

He said that after inspection, the train continued its journey and the loco pilot did not report any kind of damage in this incident.

Investigation Launched Amid Recent Incidents

SHO of the Bairia police station Ramayan Singh said the incident occurred in front of Yadav Nagar of the Chand Diyar village before the Manjhi bridge on the UP- Bihar border. He expressed that a passenger train had also passed through this route half an hour before the Lucknow-Chhapra Express train.

Meanwhile, Circle Officer (Bairia) Mohammad Usman stated that at around 10.40 am on Saturday, about 300 metres before the Manjhi railway bridge, some sleeper coaches of the train got scratched due to the engine's safety guard hitting the stone in the middle of the track.

"On receiving the information, we immediately reached the spot with the police force and inspected it," he said, and added that the local police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) are investigating the spot.

Series of sabotaging Incidents in Recent Weeks

Prior to Saturday's incident, on September 22, two people were arrested in connection with the alleged derailment bid of the Naini Jan Shatabdi Express by placing a six-metre-long iron pole on track between the Bilaspur Road and Rudrapur City railway stations on September 18 in Rampur.

The driver of the Naini Jan Shatabdi Express averted a possible accident when he applied the emergency brakes on seeing the iron pole across the tracks near Uttarakhand's Rudrapur, officials said, adding it could be sabotage.

On September 22, a goods train driver spotted an empty LPG cylinder on the tracks and applied emergency brakes to stop the train near the Prempur station in Kanpur, the second such incident in Uttar Pradesh this month.

On September 8, an attempt was made to derail the Kalindi Express, heading towards Bhiwani from Prayagraj, by placing an LPG cylinder on the tracks. The train hit the cylinder before coming to a screeching halt.

On August 17, the Sabarmati Express derailed between the Kanpur and Bhimsen stations in Uttar Pradesh, a Railway Board official had said. 

(With PTI inputs)