Gas leak disrupts trains

SURAT, May 21: Leakage of gas from the tanker of an Ahmedabad-bound goods train near Panoli railway station, close to Bharuch, disrupted rai...

SURAT, May 21: Leakage of gas from the tanker of an Ahmedabad-bound goods train near Panoli railway station, close to Bharuch, disrupted rail traffic on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route for over five hours on Thursday. No untoward incident was reported, though passengers at the Surat railway station were stranded for hours on end, as a number of trains ran late.

According to railway sources here in the city, a tanker containing liquefied petroleum gas developed a leak around Panoli railway station, 25 km from Bharuch, apparently because of a loosely fitted lid.

A rail employee reportedly noticed the leak around 4.55 a.m. and alerted the Panoli railway authorities about the leak, after which five fire brigades from Ankleshwar Nagarpalika, the Ankleshwar GIDC and Panoli GIDC were rushed to the spot. The fire-fighters sprayed water onto the tanker in question after it had been separated from the rest of the train. No fire was, however, reported.

Meanwhile, rail traffic was further suspended briefly when the engine of the Surat-bound Sayajinagri Superfast Express developed a technical snag near Panoli shortly after 10 a.m.

Station manager D R Solanki of the Surat railway station told Express Newsline that the Sayajinagri Express snag further delayed trains on the route. All morning trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and Mumbai and Delhi were affected due to the twin trouble.

The tanker leak held up traffic on the route till around 10.10 a.m. Till then, all trains were terminated at Ankleshwar and Vadodara.

As LPG is highly inflammable, the rail authorities ensured that no person lit a fire within 1000 metres of the Panoli railway station by posting RPF jawans all across the area, sources at the Surat railway station said.

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Experts of Hindustan Petroleum and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, including K Mishra and H G Mohan, rushed to the spot and assisted the fire-fighters in sealing off the leak in the tanker.

The various mail and express trains delayed by the leak were:
9109 Gujarat Queen 1096 Ahimsa Express.
41 Ahmedabad Passenger train.
8403 Puri-Ahmedabad Express.
2934 Karnavati express.
9104 Gandhidham -Vadodara Intercity.
2954 August Kranti Express.
9032 Kutch Express.
2964 Sayajinagri Express.
2926 Paschim Express.
9012 Gujarat Express.
972 Holiday Special.