New pilgrimage train to Katra stuck in tunnel due to engine failure

Chandigarh, July 16: The newly introduced direct

to Katra, the base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in

, was stuck in a tunnel for an hour this morning due to engine failure near Katra

Station.

The fully air conditioned super fast train Shri Shakti Express from New Delhi to Katra was on its second run when the incident took place about five kms before the station. The train was launched a day earlier from New Delhi.

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Ferozepur Division, under which the rail network in Jammu and Kashmir falls, N C Goyal told PTI here that the train had reached Katra at 7 AM against the scheduled arrival time of 5.10 AM.

Railway sources told PTI that the Shri Shakti Express from New Delhi to Katra was stuck in a tunnel, about five kms before its destination Katra, due to failure of its engine inside the tunnel.

Since Katra is a new station from where train services were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, another engine was rushed from Udhampur. Goyal said he was awaiting the details of the delay and the engine failure, but added that the train had reached its destination about 100 minutes behind schedule.

The train was running late by about 35 minutes and another around 60 minutes were lost after the engine failed inside the tunnel about five kms before Katra Railway Station. Northern Railway spokesperson Neeraj Sharma said the train was stuck due to "engine failure".

"There was no problem in the tunnel or the line. Another engine was pressed into service to carry forward the journey," he said.

PTI