Passengers who fell ill on Tejas Express discharged, rail ministry orders inquiry

Railway ministry’s spokesperson Anil Saxena had on Sunday said a showcause notice had been served to the catering contractor and “strict action is contemplated” if he is found guilty.

The Konkan Railway on Monday said all the passengers who had taken ill after breakfast due to food poisoning on the Mumbai-bound Tejas Express have been discharged from hospital.

The Tejas Express, India’s first semi-high speed train, being flagged off by from CST for Goa in May 22, 2017. (Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo)

The railway made arrangements for the transportation of all the passengers to Mumbai, an official of the Konkan Railway Corporation said.

Twenty-six passengers on the Mumbai-bound Tejas Express from Goa fell ill after breakfast due to food poisoning on Sunday, according to a senior official of the Konkan Railway.

The train was stopped at the Chiplun station in Maharashtra and all the passengers were admitted to the city’s Life Care hospital. Konkan Railway chairman and managing director Sanjay Gupta had said their condition was not serious.

“All the passengers who complained of nausea have been discharged from the Chiplun-based hospital. We provided accommodation to the passengers in different trains so that they could reach Mumbai today,” Konkan Railway Corporation Limited’s Public Relations Officer Girish Karandikar told PTI.

“No patient was admitted in the ICU. They were taken to the hospital for some tests and observation and none of them was serious,” Karandikar said.

“An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause. The kitchen, where the food was prepared, was inspected by the Madgaon area officer after the incident and samples, including soup sachets, have been taken for testing,” he said.

Tejas Express, one of the premium trains of the Indian Railways, connects Mumbai with Karmali.