The protesters also tried to set fire to the A1 coach, Suman Sharma, who is AC power car mechanic, said.
A person has died and over 15 were injured in Telangana as an angry mob protesting against the new military recruitment policy, Agnipath, set fire to several trains and damaged public property today.
Over 5,000 agitators reportedly entered a railway station in Secunderabad and tried to set fire to a coach of a passenger train that had nearly 40 occupants inside. The passengers, some of them children, were saved with timely action by railway staff, who helped them move to an adjoining coach.
At least 40 passengers were inside the A1 coach as it was attacked by protesters with sticks and stones, Suman Kumar Sharma, who is an AC power car mechanic, told NDTV.
"There were around 40 people in here (inside the coach), but of those who committed the crime, I could not count. There were over 5,000 of them," he said as he showed the wreckage inside the coach.
The protesters also tried to set fire to the coach, but timely action from the staff saved it, he said.
Narrating how the passengers were transported out of the coach amid the violence, Mr Sharma said, "Two gates were open, so we let the passengers go from one side. We told them, the RPF (Railway Police) will keep you safe."
The protests against the new military recruitment policy spread to the southern state after entering the third consecutive day in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. Protests have also been reported in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Over 200 trains have been affected - 35 trains have been cancelled while 13 short-terminated- since the protests erupted on Wednesday, according to the Railways.
The agitation broke out after the government unveiled Agnipath on Tuesday -- calling it a "transformative" scheme-- for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.
Protesters are unhappy with the changes, particularly the length of service, no pension provisions for those released early, and the 17.5 to 21-year age restriction that now makes many of them ineligible.
The Opposition has also stepped up its attack on the government over the new recruitment scheme, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi not take 'agnipareeksha (trial by fire)' of their patience by making them walk on Agnipath. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, called the move "negligent" and potentially "fatal" for the country's future.
The age limit for Agnipath recruitment has now been raised to 23 from 21 as a "one-time waiver" following the protests. The government has also put out a 10-point defence of the scheme and assured recruits they will not find themselves in the lurch after completing their four years in the military.