Assam train accident · News Corner

The Kolkata–Sairang Express Derailed at Digaru — and by Dusk a Second Train Had Left the Tracks Too

By Beauty of Bharat · Published 12 November 2026

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Fourteen months ago, this train carried passengers all the way to Sairang for the first time, putting Mizoram’s capital on India’s railway map. On Wednesday morning, at 6:54 AM, its locomotive and five coaches left the tracks outside Guwahati — on a stretch of line the railway’s own general manager had inspected the day before. And in the middle of it all is a 45-second video, apparently filmed inside the locomotive cab, in which the driver can be heard saying the emergency brake is not working. The railways have not confirmed that the video is real.

Train No. 13125, the Kolkata–Sairang Express, was travelling from Kolkata’s Chitpur station to Sairang, near Aizawl in Mizoram, when it derailed at Digaru station in Assam’s Kamrup (Metro) district on Wednesday 11 November 2026. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) says the train was being received at Digaru to give precedence to another train, the Guwahati–Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express, when the loco pilot could not control its speed. Nobody died and nobody was seriously hurt; minor injuries are reported as four by the Assam chief minister and eight by The Assam Tribune. A special train carried about 800 passengers on to Sairang, normal services through Digaru were restored within about four hours, and a high-level probe has been ordered. By Wednesday evening, a second train — the Chauri Chaura Express — had derailed at Kanpur Central. Nobody was hurt there either.

What happened at Digaru at 6:54 AM

At around 6:54 AM on 11 November 2026, Train No. 13125 was being received at Digaru Railway Station, about 44 kilometres east of Guwahati on the Guwahati–Lumding section, so that another train could pass first. “While Train No. 13125 Kolkata-Sairang Express was being received at Digaru Railway Station in Assam to give precedence to another train, the Loco Pilot could not control the speed, resulting in an unfortunate incident of derailment,” the NFR said in its statement, “in which the locomotive along with 5 coaches derailed.” About 900 passengers were on board, the NFR’s chief public relations officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told Pratidin Time.

The derailment held up other trains: the Guwahati–Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express (12067) was controlled at Panbari, the Coimbatore–Silchar Express (15627) was regulated at Panikhaiti, and the Alipurduar–Mariani Intercity Express (15769) was short-terminated at Kamakhya. A special relief train left for Sairang at 11:30 AM carrying around 800 stranded passengers, and normal movement on both lines through Digaru was restored at about 11 AM. Rerailing continued after services resumed; three of the five derailed coaches had been repaired by the following morning. One distance in the reports does not match: the New Indian Express and India Today NE place Digaru around 44 kilometres east of Guwahati, while the NFR’s own statement, as reported by The Telegraph, puts the station 30 kilometres from the city. This post uses the 44-kilometre figure because two independent reports agree on it.

One detail will certainly be examined: on Tuesday 10 November, the day before the accident, the NFR’s general manager Vivek Khare inspected Guwahati station and the Guwahati–New Haflong section — the route the train was on, The Telegraph notes. It was also the second passenger-train derailment in Assam in under two weeks: on 29 October, the locomotive of the Silchar–Guwahati Express derailed near Badarpur, also without casualties. The two incidents have different reported causes, and the evidence does not yet support a systemic conclusion.

Four injured, or eight? The numbers don’t match yet

The injury count is where the official record and the reporting genuinely disagree. The NFR’s first statement said all passengers were safe and no injuries had been reported. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma then posted that four had sustained minor injuries and were receiving care at Sonapur Primary Health Centre. The Assam Tribune, reporting on Wednesday afternoon, put the figure at eight passengers with minor injuries, all taken to Sonapur District Hospital and discharged after first aid. There is a second, smaller disagreement: the NFR’s written statement says the locomotive and five coaches derailed, while its chief public relations officer told ANI that six coaches had come off the tracks. This post follows the written statement. What no source disputes is the important part: there were no deaths and no major injuries.

The 45-second video the railways won’t confirm

Within hours of the derailment, a 45-second video began circulating online, apparently recorded inside the locomotive cab. It shows the driver trying to control the train as it approaches a red signal, saying in Hindi that the emergency brake is not working — “Emergency kaam nahi kar raha.” ABP Live and JagranJosh both reported the clip, and both were careful about it: the authenticity of the circulating video and the exact technical cause of the derailment have not been separately confirmed.

That caution matters. The NFR’s account attributes the derailment to the loco pilot being unable to control the train’s speed; the video, if genuine, would point instead at a braking failure. The NFR has launched a high-level investigation, announced on Thursday 12 November, to determine the exact cause. Until it reports, this post does not treat the video as evidence, and it does not embed it here.

By dusk, a second derailment — at Kanpur

At about 5:03 PM, the Gorakhpur-bound Chauri Chaura Express (Train No. 15003), travelling from Kanpur Anwarganj to Gorakhpur, departed from platform 7 at Kanpur Central railway station. About two minutes later, four of its air-conditioned coaches — B4, B5, B6 and B7 — derailed as the train moved out of the station, one bogie coming off the tracks under each coach. Around 300 passengers were travelling in the affected coaches, and no passenger was injured or killed, the North Central Railway’s Prayagraj division and senior police officials confirmed. Other operations at Kanpur Central were unaffected, the remaining coaches were moved to platform 3 so the train could resume, and the railway announced a 100 per cent refund for passengers who did not wish to continue. The cause is not yet known. Helplines for Kanpur Central: 0512-2323018, 0512-2323016 and 0512-2323015. The Hindu and The Telegraph both note it plainly: it was the second derailment reported in India that Wednesday.

Why this train matters: the line that ended Mizoram’s wait

To understand why the Digaru derailment drew so much attention, it helps to know what the Kolkata–Sairang Express is. It is one of three long-distance services on the Bairabi–Sairang line, the 51.38-kilometre railway that finally brought Mizoram onto India’s railway map when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on 13 September 2025 — built at a cost of about ₹8,000 crore through steep, fragile hill country, with 45 tunnels covering nearly 16 kilometres and 153 bridges, six of them more than 70 metres high. Sairang station sits about 20 kilometres from Aizawl, the state capital.

In its first year the line carried more than 15 lakh passengers on over 1,100 train trips, according to the Ministry of Railways, alongside the Sairang–Anand Vihar Rajdhani Express and the Sairang–Guwahati Express. One precision matters: the derailment did not happen on the new Mizoram line. Digaru is on the Guwahati–Lumding section in Assam; the train had not yet reached the Bairabi–Sairang section when it left the tracks.

What it means if you’re travelling

For travellers, the practical picture is now stable: normal operations on both lines at Digaru were restored on Wednesday. Three services were cancelled: the Guwahati–Haibargaon DMU (75727/75728) on 11 November, the Guwahati–New Jalpaiguri Intercity Express (15676) on 11 November, and the New Jalpaiguri–Guwahati Intercity Express (15675) on 12 November — today. The Alipurduar–Mariani Intercity Express (15769) was short-terminated at Kamakhya. If you are travelling on the Guwahati–Lumding section, check the running status on NTES or line 139 before you leave; helplines were activated at Katihar, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri, Guwahati, Lumding, Badarpur and Silchar. If you are booked on the Chauri Chaura Express, the railway has said passengers who do not wish to continue can claim a full refund, and the Kanpur Central helplines above are the numbers to call.

Planning an Assam or Mizoram trip?

Start with our Assam state guide and Guwahati, then Kaziranga and our best places to visit in Assam guide, plus the Majuli river-island guide and the 4-day Guwahati–Kaziranga itinerary. For Mizoram, see our Mizoram state guide, Aizawl, the Thenzawl guide and the 5-day Mizoram hills itinerary. And the News Corner for the day’s other stories.