Incredible Tale Of India’s Only Train Owner: How A Railway Error Made This Man Owner Of Railway Property

In India, there was a unique individual who owned a train. He is not a high-ranking official or a major businessman but rather an ordinary farmer who became the owner of an entire train. While India’s billionaires and millionaires may have private jets, ships, and cars worth millions, no one else has a private passenger train.

The person identified as Sampuran Singh, an ordinary farmer from Katana village in Ludhiana, Punjab. In 2017, he unexpectedly became the owner of an entire train. One day, he found himself as the owner of the Swarna Shatabdi Express, which runs from Delhi to Amritsar.

In 2007, the railway acquired land from farmers for the Ludhiana-Chandigarh rail line, including Sampuran Singh's land. The railway paid Rs 25 lakh per acre for his land. However, the issue arose when Singh discovered that the railway had acquired similar-sized land in a nearby village for ₹71 lakh per acre.

Sampuran Singh challenged the railway’s inconsistent compensation in court. After a hearing, the court ordered the railway to increase the compensation from ₹25 lakh to ₹50 lakh, later raising it to ₹1.47 crore. The court directed Northern Railway to make the payment by 2015, but the railway only paid ₹42 lakh and failed to settle the remaining ₹1.05 crore.

After the court’s order, the railway failed to pay the compensation. In 2017, the District and Sessions Judge ordered the seizure of a train at Ludhiana station and also instructed the seizure of the station master's office. Following this order, farmer Sampuran Singh arrived at the station and seized the Amritsar Swarna Shatabdi Express train, becoming its owner.

After that Sampuran Singh became the only person in India to own a train. However, shortly after, the section engineer had the train released through a court official. Reports indicate that the case is still under judicial consideration. (Image: Zee News Hindi)