Passengers of the Madgaon-Nizamuddin Rajdhani had a narrow escape, as the train engine was reported to have run on a downward slope for around 15 km without a driver. It is known that a fault in the engine caused the automobile to stop inside a long tunnel near the Ratnagiri station.
While the technicians tried to fix the problem, the train began to move and unconfirmed reports suggest, the driver of was in the Guard's cabin at the time and could only get in after the train slowed down near an upward incline. While senior officials confirmed the incident, Konkan Railway Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Gupta said the news was wrong. He, however confirmed the "loco failure" saying the "train did roll for some time". "A high level inquiry has been ordered," he said.
The engine's vacuum brake was de-activated, which led to the loco going rogue. Once it slowed down, the driver applied the brakes. Eventually, another engine arrived and dragged the train to next station, Chiplun.
