Hundreds of passengers got delayed by several hours when the guard of the train went missing and it was later found out that he had fallen asleep. The Tapti Ganga Express had arrived at Varanasi railway station. The guard whose duty was fixed on the train had come from Satna.
In the absence of the guard, there was no signal and the train remained at the Cantt station.
Angry passengers came out on the platform and created a ruckus. The driver kept blowing whistle but there was no sign of the guard, UP Singh. The driver Harsh Prasad went out looking for him and through his walkie-talkie informed other railway officials.
The search led them to the running room where in a corner Singh sahab was fast asleep. Though the passengers must have faced inconvenience (we all can imagine if a person is sick or someone is in a hurry to reach his destination), the guard couldn't be blamed either. The running staff is often overworked.
Poor guard was tired after a long duty. He hadn't been able to sleep for days and the moment he decided to take a short nap, he went into deep sleep. At last, he was located and after the signal, the Benares-Surat Express train chugged out.
[Photo courtesy Mr Willikewonker at Flickr.com ]
