The Kanchenjunga Express chugged into Sealdah station around 3.16am on Tuesday, some 18 hours after the crash in north Bengal that killed 10.

Trauma and relief were writ large on the faces of many of the passengers who got off the train.

They were received by two state ministers and a number of railway officials. A couple of passengers were seen breaking down in front of Firhad Hakim, Calcutta’s mayor and the state minister for urban development and municipal affairs.

“They were traumatised. Many of them said that on another day, they could have been among the casualties,” said Hakim, who was seen consoling them.

Manoj Dey, who was travelling with his wife and four-year-old daughter, has vowed never to take his child on a train again.

Dey visited Agartala, where his in-laws live, for Jamai Sasthi. “It was a fun trip that had a horrible ending. Next time, I will try to book plane tickets even if they are costlier. Especially if my daughter is travelling with us,” said Dey, who works for an agency that supplies personnel to offices.

Dey was in an AC 3-tier coach on the train. He was in a middle berth at the time of the crash. “I fell from the berth under its impact. The coach was shaking as the train continued to move for a few seconds after an ear-shattering noise,” said Dey, who lives in Telengabagan in north Calcutta.

“My first reaction was to reach out for my daughter and wife. My heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds, until I saw them,” said Dey.

As the train reached Sealdah, Dey heaved a sigh of relief. “It felt like home,” he said. The family was led to a car waiting outside the station and driven home.

Hakim and transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty had arranged for 30 cars and 60 buses to drop the passengers home.

For Mrityunjoy Debnath, 48, and many other occupants of his sleeper coach, the journey from the accident site — around 10km from New Jalpaiguri station — was ridden with fear.

“Every time the train braked, we got scared. Every time the train picked up speed, we kept our fingers crossed,” said Debnath, a businessman from Agartala.

The horrific images of the derailed coaches will stay with — and haunt — him forever, Debnath said.

“You see such images on TV. But when it happens in front of you, the effect cannot be explained,” said Debnath, who went to his accommodation — an ashram on Rashbehari Avenue — on one of the buses.

The divisional railway manager of Sealdah, Deepak Nigam, was present at the station.

Railway officials provided water bottles and food packets to the passengers.

The accident happened a little before 9am on Monday. The train left the spot around 12.40pm the same day.

Doctors and medical attendants got on the train at multiple subsequent stations — like Aluabari Road, Malda and Rampurhat — to check on the passengers.

From treating minor bruises to checking blood pressure, they attended to passengers in multiple ways. “More than one passenger said their blood pressure had shot up,” said an official.

The passengers were provided food and water at the stops.