In a bizarre incident, over 2,500 passengers from two express trains got stuck on Wednesday (29th November) at Burhwal junction in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district after staff from one of the trains left the train saying that their duty hours were over and the loco pilot said he was feeling unwell. When another train arrived at the station, passengers of the earlier train blocked it demanding that their train should move first, which led to the delay of the second train, and its staff also said that their shift was over, and refused to run the train further.
The suffering and enraged passengers staged protests by going onto the rail track and obstructing the passage of an express train since they were left stuck without food, water, or electricity inside the train.
The incident occurred between the Saharsa-New Delhi Special Fare Chhath Puja Special (04021) and the Barauni-Lucknow Junction Express (15203). A few hours later, employees from Gonda Junction were sent by North Eastern Railway (NER) to attend to the two express trains in an attempt to calm down the situation.
Railway records show that 04021 departed Saharsa at 9.30 am on 28th November instead of the scheduled departure time of 7.15 pm on 27th November. The train took more than 19 hours to arrive in Gorakhpur. The express does not stop at Burhwal junction, but it did make an unplanned stop at 1:15 pm due to a crossing with a goods train. However, even after the good train had passed, the train remained stationary at the station. After around an hour, the passengers became restless and started to create a rucous.
When they approached the station master, the station master went to the locomotive to find out why the train had not moved. But then he approached the loco pilot and the guard, they told him that their shift was over so they would not proceed further. They handed him over the required papers and left the station, leaving the passengers stranded.
The station master then informed the control room about the development, after which replacement loco pilot and guard were sent to the station to move the train forward.
In the meanwhile the Barauni-Lucknow Express which was already running late by more than five hours and 30 minutes arrived at Burhwal junction at 4.04 p.m. But the passengers of the previous train blocked it there, demanding that their train should be moved first. As a result, both the passenger trains got stuck at the station. After some time, the staff of the Barauni train also said that their shift is over, therefore they would not be able to proceed further. Authorities arranged replacement staff for the second train too. After they arrived, both the trains were dispatched from the station.
“Our journey was supposed to end in a maximum of 25 hours 20 minutes, but it’s the third day in this so-called ‘special train’. This is a special torture created by Indian railways for poor passengers like us. There is no water, no pantry car to buy food, and no power supply. Both the loco-pilots and train guard have alighted from the train citing drowsiness,” a passenger traveling from Saharsa to New Delhi was quoted as saying by the TOI.
Reports mention that the train stood stranded at the Burhwal junction in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district for around 3 hours. Passengers meanwhile protested and slammed the Indian Railways for this mismanagement. The food and water at the few stalls at the small stations were quickly exhausted, leaving many people without food and water.
It is notable that the duty hours of loco pilots in Indian Railways is between 8-10 hours, and it should not exceed 12 hours as per guidelines. Loco pilots and guards of a train are changed at specific stations. These are generally bigger stations and have running facilities for the staff. But in case of trains running several hours late, the shift of the staff may get over at a place without arrangement for replacement. In such cases, replacement staff have to be sent to such unscheduled stations.
