Hoshiarpur (Punjab):A goods train travelled around 78 km from Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua to Punjab's Hoshiarpur without the driver and his assistant. No casualties or injuries were reported. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has ordered an inquiry into the matter.
It is being told that the freight train had halted at the Kathua railway station and started rolling down a slope gradient track. It travelled all the way to Hoshiarpur where it was brought to a stop on a steep gradient near Unchi Bassi railway station. Railway officials said that wooden stoppers were installed for halting the train.
According to information available from the spot, when the train halted at Kathua railway station, the driver got down without applying a handbrake following which, the train started rolling due to the slope towards Punjab's Pathankot. When the railway officials came to know about the incident, they tried to stop it at the Kathua railway station itself, but failed because the train had already gained speed and soon it was running above 80 km per hour.
The Kathua railway station officials immediately contacted their counterparts at Sujanpur railway station in Pathankot and an attempt was made to halt the train. But this time too the attempt failed. After which, successive attempts were made at Pathankot Cantt, Kandrodi, Mirthal, Bangla and Mukerian stations.