Matheran mini train derails, holidayers stranded
The famed Matheran mini train derailed on Wednesday forcing those on their trip to the hill station to walk the tracks.
The famed Matheran mini train derailed on Wednesday forcing those on their trip to the hill station to walk the tracks.
The wheel of the diesel locomotive was immediately re-railed and placed back on tracks.
And the narrow gauge Matheran-Neral railway service was restored in an hour.
“At 6 pm, there was a fault with the engine and one of its wheels got off the track. The staff put it back on the tracks and rectified the snag by 7pm,” said Central Railway spokesperson SC Mudgerikar.
Parag Shah, one of the commuters, said the engine jumped off the track during a sharp curve near Water Pipe station. “Most of the commuters realised that re-railing the locomotive and resuming the journey would take a lot of time and got off. Some even hailed down vehicles and went up by cars and jeeps,” he said.
A few commuters also managed to hitch a ride in the railway tool wagons. The six-coach train has five second-class compartments and one for first class.
A senior railway official said it was a rare incident and that the Matheran engines are specially made to negotiate sharp curves.
The original steam engines on the line too had been bought specially for this purpose.