Pune-bound superfast train ‘takes detour’ in Jalgaon’s direction, Western Railway begins probe

The Indian Express has learnt that the incident happened on Friday around 10 am after the train departed from Surat. The Railway authorities recalled the train heading towards Jalgaon in Maharashtra, before taking the correct route via Vasai to reach Hadapsar.

The train started from Jodhpur on Thursday night and the next day, reached Sabarmati Railway station in Ahmedabad where the on-duty Railway guard was replaced with another one for the further journey to Vasai in Maharashtra.

Western Railway sources told The Indian Express that when the railway guard, whose duty was from Ahmedabad to Vasai, disembarked, a new guard was assigned to the train for reasons that “are under investigation”. After Udhna Station, the train was supposed to stop at Vapi in South Gujarat and then head to Vasai in Maharashtra. But instead, it headed towards Vyara in Tapi district. “The driver took the wrong path and diverted to the Jalgaon route in Maharashtra from Udhna railway station after getting a signal,” sources in the Western Railway said.

A Western Railway official, pleading anonymity, said, “The incident had taken place at Udhna Railway station, wherein a train going towards Vasai got diverted to Jalgaon. A high-level inquiry has been initiated.”

Sources told The Indian Express that the passengers on board got agitated with the train going in a different direction and alerted railway authorities. By then, the train had already travelled seven kms towards Jalgaon and was halted at Niyol station in Surat district and recalled to Udhna.

It is worth noting that there are two routes from Udhna Railway Station: one goes directly to Mumbai via Vasai Station, and the other heads towards Jalgaon Station in Maharashtra via Tapi district in South Gujarat.

Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek told The Indian Express, “I have come to know that an investigation has been initiated into the incident.”

Sources in the Western Railway said that Railway authorities had already planned to divert the Jodhpur-Hadapsar Superfast train from the Vasai route to the Jalgaon route October 12 onwards.