A day after an unmanned goods train travelled 84km from Kathua near Jammu before it was stopped at Ucchi Bassi in Punjab’s Mukerian, the railways placed six employees under suspension.

Divisional railway manager (DRM), Ferozepur, Sanjay Sahoo, who was in Jalandhar for the virtual inauguration of the renovated Jalandhar City station by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, said the railway board has constituted a high-level committee to probe the incident.

“The committee members are in Kathua. On the basis of a preliminary probe, six railway employees, including Kathua station master, loco pilot (driver), assistant loco pilot (ALP), Kathua’s point man, local inspector and traffic inspector concerned have been suspended with immediate effect,” the DRM said.

The committee will submit a detailed report after looking into the reasons behind the negligence. “On the basis of the report, further action will be taken,” the DRM said.

He said initial probe showed the loco pilot and ALP left the train unattended as the crew was to change at Kathua station. “It was a diesel locomotive but even the engine was not operational before the train start moving. The train began moving because of the steep slope at the station due to which it gained enough momentum to travel several kilometres. The inquiry committee will look into the reasons behind how the train kept moving at such a high speed even as the engines were not operational,” he said.

An official said had it been an electric locomotive, the railways could have easily cut off the power supply and stopped the train.

The DRM said senior officials, including him, rushed to central control room and started monitoring the situation technically to avoid a mishap.

“We were waiting for the speed to come down as we were ready to derail the train at a secluded place. The train lost momentum as we put hindrances, including sand, stones and wooden blocks, on the track at many places before we managed to stop it near Ucchi Bassi,” he said.

The DRM said the aim was to avoid any tragedy so all precautions were taken and emergency services activated.