Patna: Hundreds of passengers aboard a local train were left stranded for over two hours at a far-off railway station in Bihar after the driver abandoned it midway through the journey for a shower to beat the sweltering heat.
The bizarre incident took place at Buxur railway station early this week on Monday, prompting authorities to order a probe after the passengers protested angrily.
Reports said a passenger train coming from Patna was on its way to Moghulsarai station in Uttar Pradesh when the driver left it at Buxur station at 10.55am and disappeared.
When the train didn’t leave even after getting the green signal, angry passengers got off the train and began protesting. Subsequently, the panel controller made an announcement through the panel address system, asking the driver to return immediately and start the train to let other trains move forward.
When the driver failed to turn up, the authorities launched a massive search for the missing driver. It was only then that they discovered the driver M.K. Singh had left for taking a bath to cool himself in the scorching summer heat with the mercury soaring over 40 degrees Celsius.
Eventually, the driver came back at 1.17pm and only then did the train resume its onward journey but not before angry passengers mobbed him in his cabin and had heated discussions with him.
“We have taken the matter very seriously and will initiate action against the drive after proper investigation,” R.K. Singh, a spokesperson of the railways told newsmen Thursday.
A similar incident took place last month on Patna-Moghulsarai rail line when the driver stopped the train at a railway crossing in Buxur district to let his assistant driver have a cup of tea. This caused heavy traffic jam and only after protests from local villagers did the train move forward.
India’s rail network carries more than 23 million passengers daily. Indian Railways is one of world’s largest railway networks comprising 119,630km of tracks over a route of 65,808km and 7,112 stations. In 2015-16, it carried over eight billion passengers annually or more than 22 million passengers a day.
