A fire scare caused by heavy smoke in compartments of 12016 Ajmer-Delhi Shatabdi was reported by the passengers on January 17. No death or casualties have been reported. The incident occurred around 9.30 PM between Alwar and Rewadi in coach C-11, according to a passenger on board.
When the spokesperson for North Western Railway was contacted on the matter he denied of any fire on the train. He further argued that there was no thick smoke and ‘burning smell due to brake lock’ might have created the panic among passengers.
Last week a similar accident had occurred on Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi and Indian Railways had presented a similar reasoning. However, passengers have narrated a different story.
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A passenger on board Sharda Bhattacharya, 49, a resident of Delhi also wrote a letter to North-Western Railways questioning the manner in which the entire incident was handled.
In the letter written to the Railways, Bhattacharya complains that Railway staff on board took no cognizance of the smoke even after several complaints. ‘A burning stench and smoke entered the coach. Soon the coach was filled with dense smoke’ write Bhattacharya in the letter. She further states that Railway staff made no attempt to stop the train and it was passengers who pulled the chain to stop the train.
Another passenger who did not want to be named also said that the fire extinguishers that were pressed into service were also faulty.
Railways on both these occasions of brake jam in Shatabdi trains has denied any possibility of fire and no safety enquiry was ordered after the brake locks on the Delhi-Lucknow. However experts think these instance call for a proper safety enquiry.
I am not aware that any laboratory test that has been conducted so far to find out whether brake locking can cause fire. No case brake locking leading to fire has been reported in the last 20 years.However, if the passengers are complaining of smoke it calls for an enquiry by the Commissioner of Safety. It is possible that the because of sparks coming from the brake jam something might have caught fire, said J.P Batra, Former Chairman Railway Board.
Earlier in December,2013, fire had charred 26 people in Nanded-Bangalore express to death. Another fire accident in January this year in Mumbai-Dehradun Express had claimed nine lives.