Station manager Asim Roy said he went to visit Anwara Begum (40) with a doctor after hearing about her illness when the train made an unscheduled stop at the station here.
"The doctor declared her dead but the family members did not let us bring down the body and closed all the gates of the S5 coach," he said.
They began to protest for lack of water in the coach and the train left with the body an hour after our higher officials let us allow it to move to its destination, he said.
Begum, a resident of Chitpur, felt uneasy when the train left Durgapur and died before it reached Burdwan station, sources said.