AS the Express Rakyat began to move faster, Mr Subari Sukaini felt glad, as it meant he could arrive home in Singapore earlier.

Then, a few minutes later, he felt it shake. Suddenly, it jerked.

Mr Subari managed to grab his seat, but he felt himself being flung around.

The next thing he knew, there was a crash and he found himself sitting on the ceiling lights.

'I remembered feeling blank for a while and then I uttered some prayers,' said Mr Subari, 59.

The train, which was travelling from Butterworth to Singapore, had been derailed.

The 40-year-old driver, who had more than 20 years' experience, was killed.

Officials took about an hour to remove his body from the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) locomotive, which was buried in mud.

Fourteen of the 210 passengers on the 12-coach train were injured.

Mr Subari, 59, had been returning home from a trip to Bangi, Selangor.

It was the fourth such trip for the father of two, an executive officer with the Singapore Malay Teachers Association.

He had been to see his professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia as part of his PhD programme.

Said Mr Subari: 'It is usual for me to take the night train. After arriving there at 6.30am, I go to the mosque for prayers and then make my way to the university for my appointment before taking the afternoon train back to Singapore.

'It is my normal routine.'

And so it was, until around 3.45pm last Saturday. The train had just pulled out of Seremban station.

The engine and the first coach, where Mr Subari was seated, fell off at a bend, going into a muddy ditch.

Five other coaches also derailed. Of these, two went down a steep slope. The remaining six coaches were unaffected.

Mr Subari said he heard the only other passenger in his coach calling to him.

He said: 'The young man was saying, 'Uncle, uncle, you okay?'

'Shattered glass was all around me,' recalled Mr Subari.

With the man's help, he crawled to a window and hoisted himself out through it.

What he saw made him realise how bad the accident was.

Said Mr Subari: 'It was quite chaotic. I could hear people crying and some had fainted. I saw an Indian family whose sons had bloody noses.

'At that moment, I had never felt so lucky and fortunate to be alive.'

He quickly called his family to tell them about the accident and assure them that he was all right.

By then, many uninjured passengers were going around checking on the injured.

Ambulances arrived soon after and took the passengers, including Mr Subari, to the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban.

Said Mr Subari: 'I was given an injection and they checked my wounds for glass splinters. They released me after cleaning my wounds.'

He said that he met a Singaporean couple in their 60s who had also suffered minor injuries.

The woman had a bump on her forehead while her husband had a sprained ankle and was in a wheelchair.

Said Mr Subari: 'The man had managed to hang on to a pole while he was being thrown around.'

While at the hospital, he said, they were given refreshments by volunteers, who also consoled shocked passengers.

Said Mr Subari: 'I SMSed my family and told them I could make my own way back.

'The Singapore couple and I were making plans to return on our own. We didn't want to trouble our children with these things.'

However, before they could make their arrangements, KTM officials offered them taxis to Tampin, from where they could take a train back to Singapore.

Mr Subari finally reached Singapore around 4.30am.

He said the accident would not deter him from taking trains.

'It just reminds one of how accidents can happen, even when you think it's safe to travel in trains.'

CAUSE NOT CLEAR

KTM Bhd managing director Datuk Mohd Salleh Abdullah, who was at the scene, said it was too early to establish the cause of the derailment, reported The Star.

KTM, which operates the service, will launch a full investigation into the accident once the locomotive and coaches are recovered, reported New Straits Times.

The accident happened in a low-lying area, which had suffered flash floods during the recent wet spell.

Work is also being carried out nearby for an expansion of the Seremban-Tampin railway line, as well as to build a flyover.

This article was first published by The New Paper on May 6, 2008