Kolkata-Sairang Express Derailed at Digaru in Assam; Passengers Safe
A passenger locomotive and five passenger coaches of the Kolkata-Sairang Express derailed at Digaru railway station in Assam during the early hours of Wednesday, November 11, 2026. According to operational statements from the Northeast Frontier Railway, the derailment of Train No. 13125 occurred after the loco pilot failed to regulate speed while giving precedence to another train. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that all passengers remained safe, noting that four individuals sustained minor injuries and received immediate medical care. Railway authorities dispatched a recovery train to clear the blocked track section and arranged an alternative passenger train to transport stranded travelers toward their destinations.
Operational Details and Passenger Accounts
Eyewitness accounts from the onboard pantry car manager indicated that passengers were asleep around 5:00 am when the train slowed approaching the Digaru platform. Shortly after crossing the station limits, a sudden noise was heard before the locomotive jumped the tracks, with the train rolling in a derailed state for nearly a kilometre before stopping. Relief and restoration operations began soon after the incident, with senior railway officials reaching the site, according to BW Travel. In October 2026, the locomotive of train number 15616 derailed near Badarpur in Assam's Lumding-Badarpur section, disrupting operations on the Kolkata-Sairang corridor, according to BW Travel.
Rail Safety Record and Incident History
The Digaru derailment brings renewed focus to Indian Railways track safety management and consequential accident mitigation frameworks. Indian Railways has reduced consequential train accidents by 88 per cent over the past 12 years, according to an ANI report in July 2026 that quoted an official statement. The Kavach 4.0 automatic train protection system, which applies the brakes automatically if the loco pilot fails to keep within speed limits, has been commissioned on 2,569 route kilometres covering the high-density Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes. The Ministry of Railways said in a July 2026 press release that the country had seen only two consequential train accidents until that month.
Overview of Recent Track Incidents
Several consequential operational accidents have been recorded across railway zones over the preceding eighteen months. On November 6, 2026, a fire damaged coaches of the Karmabhoomi Express near Sarai Banjara in Punjab without causing passenger injuries. Earlier in July 2026, a passenger service collided with a vehicle in West Bengal, while an August 2025 derailment involved two Jan Sadharan Express coaches in Uttar Pradesh. A fatal collision occurred in July 2025 in Tamil Nadu, where three schoolchildren lost their lives when a passenger train struck a school van at a level crossing. Following the derailment, Northeast Frontier Railway regulated the Guwahati-Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express at Panbari and the Coimbatore-Silchar Express at Panikhaiti, according to BW Travel.