Passengers of the New Delhi–Islampur Magadh Express had a narrow escape when the train split into two while crossing Buxar district in Bihar on Sunday. All passengers were safe.

“The 20802 Down Magadh Express travelling from New Delhi to Islampur passed Twiniganj at around 11:07am. The train’s coupling between the 13th and 14th coach from the engine broke at around 11:08am while it was running between Twiniganj and Raghunathpur stations,” East Central Railway (ECR) chief public relations officer (CPRO) Saraswati Chandra said.

Apart from the engine, the train had 22 coaches. The engine moved forward with 13 coaches after the coupling (the steel connectors between two coaches) broke and nine coaches were left behind on the tracks. However, the driver sensed something amiss and applied emergency brakes to stop the express train.

Chandra added that there was “no damage in the incident” and a “self-propelled accident relief train” (SPART) was dispatched from Danapur station near Patna at 11:35am. Senior railway officials also rushed to the site.

The accident relief train and the personnel swung into action after reaching the stationary Magadh Express and rectified the issue. The train started again from Raghunathpur around 2.35pm. However, the normal movement of passenger and goods trains was hampered on the section due to the incident.

The railways have ordered an inquiry.