It took the fire brigade over 40 minutes to reach the spot as the train was stationed on inner platform.
Following the fire incident in the Rajdhani Express, a similar incident was averted in Kalyan on Saturday with the dual-current electric locomotive of the 12142 Rajendranagar (Bihar) — Mumbai superfast express catching fire at Kalyan station. The station staff and the police immediately evacuated passengers in the general compartment next to the engine, averting a major tragedy.
With no fire-fighting arrangements, the railways had to call the Kalyan fire brigade vehicles, which were unable to reach platform 5 where the engine was burning.
Following the incident and ensuing chaos, evening peak hour traffic collapsed with a number of trains lined up outside Kalyan station. Trains like the Pragati Express and Deccan Queen were delayed by more than an hour. Most of the stations along the route were packed with home-bound commuters as down trains were also affected.
“There was fire at the rear of the engine, which was near the general coach. The train had arrived at the station at 2.57pm and was to leave at 3pm, but the alert driver noticed smoke emanating from the rear of the locomotive,” CR spokesperson Ashok Singh said. “Passengers from the affected train were provided assistance to reach their destinations,” Singh added.
Government railway police officials said that the station staff and railway protection force men tried to fight the fire with fire extinguishers, failing which they called the Kalyan Fire brigade, which rushed to the station and extinguished the fire after 40 minutes. While the empty train was taken to Vasind and later to CST, the gutted locomotive was taken to Diva.
Railway officials said they were investigating the cause of the fire, but said that it could be a short-circuit that led to the incident.
The fire brigade had a tough time accessing the “fire target” that was deep inside the station premise on platform 5. “The fire brigade vehicle came from the west side. The closest access that the fire brigade equipment had was from a garden near platform 1. All this added up to a delay of 40 minutes.
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