Jaipur, January 21, 2026: A major attempt to derail the Maharaja Express, one of India’s most prestigious luxury tourist trains, was successfully foiled late Monday night near Jaipur, thanks to the alertness of the locomotive pilot and swift action by railway security forces.
The train, numbered 00240, was en route from Sawai Madhopur to Jaipur’s Durgapura Station, carrying around 21 foreign tourists along with the crew and staff, when the incident occurred at approximately 11:02 pm between the Sanganer and Shivdaspura stations.
According to railway sources, unknown persons had placed four to five heavy iron angles, each fitted with cement blocks, on the railway track near a level crossing close to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital. The suspicious objects were intended to cause a derailment.
The loco pilot detected the obstruction in time, applied emergency brakes, and brought the train to a halt before a collision could escalate into a major catastrophe. The train remained stopped for about 35 minutes while the obstruction was cleared.
Soon after, teams from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), and local police, including a dog squad and special forces, arrived at the scene. A thorough inspection was carried out, and the track was declared safe before normal train operations resumed.
An FIR has been registered at the Shivdaspura Police Station against unknown persons on charges of deliberately endangering railway safety. Initial investigations suggest that the iron angles might have been brought to the track by someone with ill intentions, possibly during an attempt to break cement blocks attached to the metal pieces, and abandoned them when the train approached.
Railway officials have directed intensified track patrolling and heightened security across vulnerable sections to prevent similar incidents in the future. Authorities are continuing the investigation to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
Passengers aboard the Maharaja Express, including foreign tourists on the luxury itinerary, were unharmed, and the train later continued its journey without further incident.