Suburban railway services in Howrah were partially affected on Wednesday morning after a coach of a Howrah station-bound local train jumped tracks while cruising towards platform number 14 of the terminal station after crossing the Tikiapara shed.

While no reports of passenger injury were received in what appeared to be a close shave for the onboard passengers on a working day of the week, panicked commuters disembarked from the affected Bagnan local and walked on the tracks to reach Howrah.

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The derailment of the fifth coach of the Down Bagnan-Howrah local took place at around 8.55 am in the Howrah-Kharagpur division of South Eastern Railways, possibly on account of track contraction due to dipping of mercury levels, railways officials said.

Railway repairmen and engineers reached the spot to carry out the necessary drill to put the affected bogie back on track and normalise train services on the route, South Eastern Railway officials said. An inquiry into the cause of the derailment was also learned to have been initiated.