News

A fire broke out in one of the coaches of the Amritsar–Saharsa Garib Rath Express (train number 12204) at Sirhind Station in Punjab on Saturday morning, October 18, prompting a swift emergency response from railway and local authorities. The incident occurred around 7.30 a.m., when smoke was noticed coming from the coach as the train halted at the station.

Officials from the Northern Railway said that as soon as the fire was detected, passengers were safely evacuated from the affected coach and shifted to other compartments. Firefighters reached the site within minutes and managed to douse the flames within an hour.

Teams from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), and local police joined railway staff in containing the fire and ensuring passenger safety. “The fire was extinguished quickly and the train will resume its journey shortly. There have been no casualties,” the Railways said in an official statement.

The timely action of on-duty staff and fire personnel prevented the blaze from spreading to other parts of the train. Passengers who had been shifted to nearby coaches were later accommodated to continue their journey once the area was declared safe.

Videos shared from the site showed heavy smoke billowing from the affected coach as firefighters used extinguishers to control the flames. Passengers were seen standing on the tracks at a safe distance during the evacuation process.

A police official present at the scene said that the smoke was first spotted by passengers, following which the train staff immediately initiated evacuation. “Fire tenders were called in and the situation was brought under control quickly,” the official said.

The Divisional Railway Manager (Ambala Division) is expected to visit the site to review the situation and assess damage to the affected coach. An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire, officials confirmed.

Train number 12204, which operates under the Northern Railway zone, runs thrice a week - on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays - connecting Amritsar in Punjab to Saharsa in Bihar. Covering a distance of about 1,716 kilometres in roughly 31 hours, the train halts at 23 stations, including Ambala Cantt, Delhi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Muzaffarpur.

Officials said all passengers were safe, and services on the route were not affected after the incident. The fire was contained within an hour, and normal operations resumed following safety checks.

Ankit Kumar is a Senior Sub Editor at Zee Business. He covers international affairs, politics, climate change, business, finance and global elections. With experience acros