Indian Railways Sets Record with Train Delayed by Over 3 Years
Train delays are common in India, often lasting several hours, but one journey set a new record by taking over three years to reach its destination.
A goods wagon traveling from Visakhapatnam to Basti in Uttar Pradesh took an astonishing 3 years, 8 months, and 7 days to complete its trip. This delay, the longest in Indian Railways history, transformed a routine 42-hour journey into an almost four-year ordeal.
The wagon, carrying 1,316 bags of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer worth over ₹14 lakhs, left Visakhapatnam on November 10, 2014. However, it didn’t reach Basti until July 25, 2018. The businessman who booked the wagon, Ramchandra Gupta, repeatedly contacted railway authorities and filed complaints when the train didn’t arrive on time. Despite his efforts, the train seemingly “went missing.”
Railway officials later explained that the wagon may have been sent to a yard after becoming unfit for use. However, the exact reason for the delay or disappearance was never clarified. By the time the train finally reached its destination, the fertilizers had become unusable.
This bizarre incident has gone down in history as the longest train delay ever recorded in Indian Railways, highlighting an extraordinary lapse in logistics and communication.
