Train heading to Maharashtra travels 160 km in wrong direction, lands up in MP

NEW DELHI: Around 1500 farmers returning to Rajasthan and Maharashtra were stranded in Madhya Pradesh after the train they were on traveled 160 kilometers in the wrong direction. The farmers were on their way to Kota and Kolhapur but are now stuck in Banmore station near Gwalior, media reports said. The special train, called the Swabhimani Express, was reportedly carrying farmers of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee who were returning from a protest rally in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The train, which left Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station on 20 November, was supposed to reach Kolhapur the next day. According to the News18 report, the train received a wrong signal at the Mathura station and traveled on the wrong route for close to 160 km. “We left Delhi at 10 pm on Tuesday and woke up at 6 am to find ourselves at Banmore railway station in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. After Agra, we had to move towards Kota in Rajasthan, however, due to serious negligence by the Railways, we are now in MP,” passenger Mahavir Patil told News18. After a delay of over one and a half hour, the passengers ran out of patience and stopped a goods train. The train was booked by the farmers for Rs 39 lakh. Thousands of farmers from across the country assembled at Jantar Mantar in the national capital and demanded a one-time total farm debt waiver and remunerative prices for their produce. The gathering was organised under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), comprising 180 peasant organisations from all over the country.