Passengers of the Sagardari Express were left stranded for more than an hour after the train's loco master reportedly left the locomotive during a scheduled stop at Mobarakganj Railway Station in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenaidah on Thursday evening.
Station Master Shahjahan Ali said the train arrived at the station at 6:07pm and was scheduled to halt for two minutes.
After the train was given clearance to depart, railway staff found the locomotive locked and switched off, while loco master Mahbubur Rahman was nowhere to be found.
The train remained stranded at the station for more than an hour, triggering anger among passengers, some of whom staged a protest over the unexpected delay.
Following the protest, the station master and other railway staff reportedly left the station temporarily due to security concerns.
The loco master returned around 7:15pm, about an hour and seven minutes after the train arrived, and resumed the journey. He declined to speak to journalists about why he had left the train.
Train guard Shafiqul Islam said the train left from Khulna and reached Mobarakganj as scheduled.
“After the train was given clearance to leave, we found that the loco master left the locomotive. We do not know why he did so,” he said.