Brake snag leaves Duronto passengers stranded for 4 hrs

Kolkata/East Midnapore: The Howrah-Bengaluru Duronto Express encountered a snag on Saturday noon near Panskura in East Midnapore, around 70km from Kolkata, following brake binding of a coach. The coach was removed and passengers boarded a fresh one that was towed in from Santragachhi. The train resumed its journey four hours later.The 12245 Howrah-Bengaluru Duronto Express left at 10.50am on Saturday. At 12.05pm, while approaching Bhogpur, an S3 coach developed brake binding or permanent braking, and the wheels refused to roll. On being alerted by the crew, engineers from South-Eastern Railway’s Kharagpur division arrived and detected the snag. “At 4pm, the train restarted after the defective coach was replaced. The passengers were safely shifted into the fresh coach,” said Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, CPRO, South-Eastern Railway.“An hour after the train left Howrah, we heard a strange noise from the bottom of the S3 coach. We also saw smoke near the wheels. The station manager at Bhogpur was informed and the train was halted,” said Arindam Das, a passenger.Railway officials explained the smoke was caused due to friction of the brake block in the coach. Several passengers, however, questioned why premium trains like Duronto Express were not checked thoroughly before being deployed for passenger service.Nabakumar Chakraborty, a passenger, said, “We are going to Bengaluru for treatment. The train was stuck for four hours. Now I don’t know if we will be able to reach the hospital on time.”