From Hatia Express to Murder Express? Indian Railways' translation blunder leads to bizarre train name

The Indian Railways received criticism on social media when a picture of a board on the Hatia-Ernakulam Express showed the name "Hatia" translated as "Kolapathakam" (murderer) in Malayalam. The photo of the board circulated widely on social platforms, sparking widespread backlash.

A Railways official explained that the mistake occurred due to confusion with the Hindi word "Hatya", which means "murder".

Railway authorities promptly took action by covering the Malayalam word with yellow paint.

The Hatia-Ernakulam Express connects the cities of Hatia in Ranchi and Ernakulam weekly. A user posted a photo of the nameplate on the microblogging site X with a caption: "Shhhh, nobody tell them".

"Too much dependence on Google Translate," wrote another user while commenting on the post.

The Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr DCM) of Ranchi Division acknowledged that an error occurred during the translation, attributing it to confusion between the words 'Hatia' and 'Hatya' (murder) in Hindi. He confirmed that the incorrect nameplate was rectified promptly after the mistake was highlighted.