The Railways have ordered an inquiry into the incident in which coaches of Guwahati Express with passengers on board had rolled back up to 14 km on tracks from Barmer station without the engine being attached to it.
Yesterday, the Guwahati Express, which was scheduled to leave from Barmer station at 11.00 PM, had started rolling backwards before the locomotive could have been attached to the train for taking the coaches on platform.
According to the DRM (Jodhpur Division) Rajendra Jain, the coaches kept on rolling due to slope on the track.
The North Western Railway has constituted a committee which will look into the reasons that led to the incident.
The coaches rolled up to 14 km without locomotive and stopped after crossing a couple of stations.
When the coaches of the Guwahati Express were rolling towards Utterlai station, another train Kalka Express was also waiting to leave the station for Barmer.
Jain said the coaches were on different loop lines, because of which the collision did not take place.
After the incident, officials rushed to the spot and arranged the locomotive to take the coaches back to the Barmer railway station, after which the train departed.
