Sharat Chandrayan, the Spokesman, Indian Railways, on Wednesday, said fire engulfed three coaches of a train in New Delhi and killed nine people.
He said the train was heading out of the Indian city of Mumbai to the northern city of Dehradun.
Chandrayan said the Railways Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, had ordered an inquiry into the cause.
A Senior Railway Protection Force officer, who preferred anonymity, but was at the scene, said four passengers
were burnt to death, while the rest died of suffocation.
He said “the coaches have been so badly damaged that we are not surprised by the death toll.”
Also, another eye witness who preferred anonymity, said he alerted officials about the fire and the train was then stopped and the coaches detached.
The latest train fire came days after fire killed 23 people in December on a train that was on its way from the city of Bangalore to Nanded in the western state of Maharashtra.
Trains are the main means of travel for most people making long journeys in India and the network carries 18 million people a day.
