KOTA
A high-level inquiry has been ordered after a fire broke out inside two rear coaches of the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express. Railway officials confirmed that all passengers were evacuated safely, and no injuries or casualties were reported.
The incident occurred around 5:15 a.m. near Nagda within the Kota Division, affecting a guard cabin and an AC 3-tier coach of the Trivandrum-New Delhi Rajdhani. West Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Harshit Srivastava stated that the coach’s built-in safety systems functioned perfectly, automatically halting the train the moment the fire was detected.
The alert train crew immediately detached the burning rear coaches from the rest of the train to prevent the flames from spreading. To ensure safety during firefighting operations, the overhead electrical power supply was temporarily shut down. Railway officers rushed to the site, providing refreshments to the stranded passengers while emergency teams worked to clear the tracks.
The train later resumed its journey, with an additional coach scheduled to be attached at Kota station to accommodate the displaced travelers. While the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, the railway administration has released emergency helpline numbers for concerned relatives.
The incident caused significant disruptions on the busy New Delhi-Mumbai rail route, forcing several major trains to halt at nearby stations for hours. In response to the scare, railway authorities have launched a comprehensive nationwide safety audit of fire-protection systems across all passenger coaches.