Punjab: Crude oil leak causes fire on railway track near Bathinda, mishap averted

Bathinda (Punjab) [India], October 26 (ANI): Punjab Police on Saturday said that they had brought under control a fire that had broken out on the railway tracks near Bathinda railway station after a fire incident due to oil leakage from a goods train transporting crude oil from Bathinda to Jammu.

Firefighters responded promptly on Friday and managed to bring the fire under control and avert a mishap. No casualities were reported, police said.

Senior Inspector of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) Harjeevan Singh told ANI that the patrolling team was informed about the fire incident and the information conveyed to the control room.

“Our patrolling team came to know about the fire on the railway track, they then conveyed the information to the control room and fire tenders reached the spot. The train was going to Jammu from Bathinda. The railway is conducting an inquiry into the cause of the fire. No coaches were damaged or caught fire. The fire was on track only”, the official said

According to the officials, the oil leak caused a short circuit on the railway track, igniting the blaze.

Previously, another case from the railways was reported where the Bareilly-Varanasi Express (Train No.14236) was struck by a wooden block. Train services were halted for nearly two hours to ensure safety and were resumed only after the obstruction was cleared from the tracks

An FIR was lodged by Senior Section Engineer Ajay Kumar at the Malihabad police station. Kumar stated that an alert was received from the Malihabad Station Master, indicating that a wooden branch was lodged in the train’s locomotive between kilometer markers 1096/10 and 1096/06 on the down line.

Deputy Commissioner of UP Police West, Omveer Singh said, “On October 24, the Khana Incharge Malihabad was informed by Railway Protection Force (RPF) Sandila Inspector that after walking about 1 km towards Lucknow, a wooden block has been kept on the track. On this information, RPF and Inspector Malihabad immediately reached the spot for inspection. A meter-long piece of a tree branch was lying on the track.

The incident came to light two weeks after an empty LPG cylinder was discovered on the railway tracks near Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

Indian Railway revealed that nationwide there have been 18 such attempts since August. This incident is one of many in a recent surge of train derailment attempts across India.

Since June 2023, there have been 24 incidents involving various objects, including LPG cylinders, bicycles, iron rods, and cement blocks, being placed on tracks in an apparent attempt to derail trains. Of these, 15 incidents occurred in August, with five more in September, underscoring the growing concern over railway safety.