Engine failure: Padatik Express stalled for 3 hours at Raniganj

Jalpaiguri: Passengers on the Sealdah-New Alipurduar-bound Padatik Express (12377) were stranded for nearly three hours on Thursday morning after the train suffered an engine failure near Raniganj Station, beyond Belakoba.

The train, which does not have scheduled stops at Raniganj or Belakoba, came to a halt around 9:50 am. It remained immobile until 1:03 pm, when a replacement engine from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) was attached, allowing the journey to resume. Some passengers, frustrated by the delay, left to continue by bus. “At first, we thought someone had pulled the chain, but soon realised the engine had failed,” said Shyamal Das of Alipurduar. Cooch Behar resident Ramendra Barman, who boarded from Malda, opted to travel the rest of the way by road. Others stayed put. Srimayi Basu of Alipurduar, travelling with children, said she managed to get food from outside the station with help from another passenger. “Taking a bus would have been more troublesome,” she said.

RPF personnel and Railway officials arrived shortly after the breakdown. Jalpaiguri Road RPF Inspector Biplab Dutta confirmed that an alternative engine from NJP resolved the issue. Northeast Frontier Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, said drinking water was available on board and passengers were regularly informed of the situation.