The passengers of a local train had a close shave after the train collided with a freight train near Saktigarh station in East Burdwan on Wednesday night.
At least one coach of the local train and two coaches of the freight train jumped the tracks after the collision, which railway officials said took place around 9.15pm.
There were no injuries, said railway officials. But train services on the Howrah-Burdwan suburban section were crippled for over 10 hours.
Several long-distance trains to Howrah and Sealdah had to be diverted after being stranded for hours. More than 20 express trains had to be cancelled and some 24 trains had to be diverted on Thursday.
Shortly after leaving Burdwan on Wednesday night, the Burdwan-Bandel local and a freight train came on the same line because of an error on the part of the driver of the local train, said railway officials.
The coach behind the cabin of the driver of the local train and two coaches of the freight train got derailed under the impact of the collision.
The derailed coaches blocked the passage of trains, leading to a spiralling delay in the schedule of several trains.
In Jharkhand, the Kumbh Express from Hardwar was stranded at Madhupur and the Jodhpur Express was stranded at Parasnath. The Mithila Express from Raxaul was kept waiting at Chittaranjan station, said railway officials.
“Prima facie, it seems the driver of the local train was at fault. Senior railway officials rushed to the spot to supervise the restoration of services,” said Kausik Mitra, chief public relations officer of Eastern Railway.
At 4pm, he told this newspaper that trains were running on both the Up and Down lines in the Howrah-Burdwan section.