Near Howrah’s Santragachi railway station, the Ispat Express avoids a serious rail accident.

Near Santragachi station on Sunday, the Howrah-Kantabanji Ispat Express (22861) nearly escaped a serious rail tragedy.

According to reports, as the train crossed the Banksara rail gate near Santragachi station in West Bengal’s Howrah district, one of the couplets connecting two compartments fell away. After the Express train departed Howrah station, the incident took place. As a result, only the first two compartments of the train’s engine kept going forward swiftly in the direction of the target, while the other compartments slowed down and came to a stop not far from the rail gate.

Eastern Railway staff informed that, two compartments became uncoupled when the couplets broke loose because the engine’s speed was relatively low at the time, and a significant risk may have been avoided, reported news agency IAS.

The change, though, caused the train passengers to start to panic. Before permitting the train to leave Howrah station, they scolded the railway officials for failing to carefully check the couplets linking the two compartments.

For a long period, the compartments that detached from the engine remained trapped at Santragachi station. Nevertheless, the Ispat Express has reportedly resumed its journey after a replacement engine was provided, said railway sources. The matter is being looked into internally now.