4 min readMay 6, 2026 09:49 PM IST
Five Indian athletes — three pole vaulters and two heptathletes — were returning to Salem from Bhubaneswar after competing in the Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition. The 22-hour journey had been uneventful for the first twelve hours. By the time it ended, two of them were on a different train, three were stranded at a railway station in Andhra Pradesh, and all of them had watched their poles fall onto the tracks from a moving train.
The group was travelling on two seats due to the reservation rush. They were carrying eight poles — each costing over a lakh of rupees — and had tied them to the window of their reserved sleeper coach after finding insufficient space inside. Usually, athletes keep poles on the ceiling fans inside the compartment, but with the coach full, the window was the only option. Fellow passengers had agreed to the arrangement, and the first half of the journey passed without incident, barring a few enquiries from curious travellers.
The trouble began at Rajahmundry station in Andhra Pradesh. A passenger complained, and Railway Police Force personnel cut the ropes securing the poles. As the train began to pull away from the station, the poles started sliding onto the track.
Kavinraja, the reigning U20 Federation Cup champion and one of the three pole vaulters in the group, did not stop to think. “My only thought was that the poles shouldn’t break,” he said. He jumped off the moving train. Two other athletes followed. Inside the compartment, a fourth athlete pulled the emergency chain. The group retrieved their equipment before it could be damaged under the wheels.
“When we left from Bhubaneswar, there was no problem. We talked to the passenger and tied it to the window as they were okay with it. Usually, we keep it on the fans inside the compartment but there were a lot of people in the reserved sleeper coach, so we decided to tie it to the windows,” Kavin said. “The poles cost more than a lakh each and it is not easy for us to get them.”
What followed was harder to explain. RPF personnel and railway officials demanded details from the athletes. When the details were provided, Kavin, along with Vishal and Sakthi, were asked to accompany officials to the railway police station on the platform. They requested access to their luggage, which was still on the train. The request was denied. The train left for Salem with their bags — and the other two athletes — on board.
“The officers were very rude with us and despite our senior Sakthi constantly explaining them why the poles were tied and where they are coming from, they didn’t even listen to us. We were standing there just with our poles. We were ready to comply with all the procedures but the only thing we requested was to give us our luggage,” Kavin said. “They kept saying that you will be charged but I never understood why.”
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Sakthi, 22, is a commercial cum ticket clerk with the Salem Division of Indian Railways. Once he showed his credentials as a railway employee, the tone shifted. After almost six hours and a written reply submitted to officials, the three were allowed to leave. They boarded the Coromandel Express later that night and returned to Chennai. Their luggage had already reached Salem.
This is not the first time pole vaulters have faced such difficulties on Indian trains. Earlier this year, national record holder Kuldeep Kumar and then-national record holder Dev Meena were asked to deboard at Panvel station while travelling to Madhya Pradesh.
“It is disheartening, to be honest. It is not about us or Dev or Kuldeep — such incidents discourage kids from taking up a sport like pole vault,” Kavin said.
The three athletes will now travel to Chennai for the Indian Athlete Series, where Kavin is set to compete in the pole vault. He had been nursing an injury and had hoped for rest before the competition. “This whole ordeal has drained me,” he said. “I hope to put on a good show there despite all this.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd