The Manmad-Mumbai Panchavati Express later resumed its journey (Representational)
The engine of a Mumbai-bound train, along with three of its coaches, detached from the rest of the train and sped along for a short distance today morning, reported news agency IANS. The engine of the Manmad-Mumbai Panchavati Express, which had a total of 15 coaches, separated from its 12 other coaches at around 8.30 am, according to Central Railway officials quoted by IANS.
The incident occurred near Thane district's Kalyan station, around 58 km away from its final stop, at south Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or CSMT.
"There are no casualties... We shall find out what led to this," Central Railway chief spokesperson Sunil Udasi told IANS.
The distance that the engine covered without its coaches has not been ascertained yet.
The train, which begins its journey from Manmad, in Maharashtra's Nashik district, covering a distance of roughly 300 km, later resumed its journey and reached its destination.
The incident led to a disruption in suburban and long-distance services for some time, reported IANS.
A similar incident occurred in April last year in Odisha, when a train with passengers on board, travelled for 10 km without an engine at night.
The Ahmedabad-Puri Express was at Titlagarh station, around 380 kilometres from Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar, when it started moving. Railways staff, noticing the train's untimely movement, placed stones on the track and brought the train to a halt.
Railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani had said in a statement that the Ahmedabad Puri Express mishap was "an isolated incident of staff negligence." Around 7 officials were suspended after the mishap occurred.
Barely a week after this incident last year, six wagons of a goods train in Odisha travelled for two km without an engine. Officials said that the incident, which occurred due to a "mechanical fault", was "immediately resolved".