Kishoreganj Express rolls back 1km without engine

An engine-less train carrying hundreds of passengers rolled backwards for nearly one kilometre at Bhairab Railway Junction on Thursday evening, triggering panic among passengers.

The incident occurred around 6:30pm on Platform No. 3 when the engine of the Dhaka-bound intercity Kishoreganj Express was detached to change the train’s direction.

According to passengers and railway sources, the train departed Kishoreganj Railway Station at 4pm and reached Bhairab Junction as scheduled. After its engine was detached and moved towards the outer section of the station, the passenger coaches suddenly began rolling backwards.

The coaches continued moving for nearly one kilometre before the train’s guard applied the emergency brake and brought it to a halt. Another engine was later brought in to retrieve the coaches and return them to Platform No. 3.

The train eventually departed for Dhaka nearly two hours behind schedule.

Train guard Omar Ali said the coaches started rolling backwards during the engine detachment process as the line was occupied.

“I immediately went inside the train and applied the emergency brake to stop it,” he said, adding that although passengers were frightened, no major accident occurred.

Passenger Rahmatullah said he was shocked to see the train moving backwards without an engine.

“Everyone on board, including me, was extremely frightened,” he said.

Passengers expressed anger over the incident and the delay, questioning the railway authorities’ handling of the situation.

Bhairab Station Master Md Yusuf said the disruption occurred due to a line outage. He added that the departure was delayed by nearly two hours as railway officials were also managing signals for four other trains heading towards Dhaka, Sylhet and Chattogram.