Angry rail passengers torch train
An angry mob in northern India has torched a train and a station to protest against a new rail schedule that has trains skipping stops at their station.
TV footage showed flames and smoke billowing out of the train which was stopped just outside the Khusrupur train station in the notoriously lawless northern state of Bihar.
About 200 protesters also set the train station on fire and pulled up train tracks, causing delays to dozens of trains, said senior railway police officer Rajender Singh.
The new schedule is the result of a political reshuffle following last month's national elections, with the new Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee overturning the policy of the outgoing minister Lalu Yadav, a Bihar political strongman.
Mr Yadav had major trains stopping at dozens of smaller stations in his home state.
Under the new schedule long distance trains would skip stops at 33 smaller stations, said Girish Bhatnagar, a senior railway official.
The change angered Khusrupur residents who watched in vain as the Patna-Calcutta train sped by.
Khusrupur is about 18 miles east of Patna, the capital of Bihar.
"That train did not stop there, so they went berserk and attacked the Dhanapur intercity express," said Mr Singh.
