The British High Commissioner Sir James David Bevan and Deputy High Commissioner David Lelliott on Sunday visited the injured passengers of the deadly chartered train accident on the Kalka-Shimla rail track that had taken place on Saturday. Some of the seriously injured passengers had been admitted to the Max Super Specialty Hospital at Mohali near Chandigarh. “There is a process we need to go through to repatriate the bodies and we are working with the Indian authorities and the families to ensure what is done according to their wishes,” said the High Commissioner.
The condition of three British nationals is said to be stable now, said Dr. Nitin Yogesh, Senior Neurosurgery Consultant. The patients are conscious and responding to treatment, said a hospital representative.
Meanwhile some of the survivors have decided to carry on their journey to Shimla, their ultimate destination. The railway track has been cleared of the debris and the usual movement of the toy train has started again, said the Northern Railway officials.
The Kalka-Shimla train which is generally called as a “toy train” is a narrow gauge railway service since the time of British and has got a special heritage status given by the UNESCO. It has a total mountainous route of about 96 kms and has 102 small tunnels en route to Shimla. The tourist groups travelling on this rail track have been given a special facility lately to hire the entire train by the Northern Railways.
The charted train that met with an accident on Saturday was also hired by a group of British tourists and had a guide and agent from Shimla. The IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) had booked this special tour for a Delhi based travel company, World Travel Experience, for the British tourists from Kalka to Shimla.
“Over-speeding, could be the main cause and it happened in a fraction of a second when a sharp curve could not be negotiated”, said the survivors. But the driver, Dhan Singh who has been frequenting the route from past 20 years said: “The speed was in control and the women were standing and taking photographs when the bogies derailed on the curve.”
Almost negligible accidents have taken place on this track in past more than 100 years of this rail track. The Kalka-Shimla rail service was started on November 9, 1903.
