Driver averts major train mishap
Bandra-Jamnagar Intercity driver slams emergency brakes on spotting a group of labourers on track near Mehamdabad. At 100 km/hr that could have derailed the train
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, April 05, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009040520090405203802967ea77e153)
Close shave
» The driver should have got a caution note at Nadiad about the ongoing repair work near Mehamdabad. He did not
» Train was speeding at 100 km/hour when he spotted some people on the track
» The driver now had a choice to make – if he applied emergency brakes to save the labourers, he risked a derailment
» He took the risk and used emergency brakes
Hundreds of passengers and a dozen track workers had a brush with death and now realise they owe their lives to the driver of Bandra-Jamnagar train but for whose alertness there could have been a bloodbath near Mehamdabad a couple of days ago. Railway officials, though, have been trying to hush up the matter claiming the incident never happened.
The incident relates to March 31 when work was in progress on the track near Mehamdabad station, about 30 km from Ahmedabad . About 15 workers were carrying out repair, owing to which trains travelling on the route were being asked to slow down. According to the standard procedure, the station superintendent of the last station that leads to the site where the work in on hands over a ‘caution order’ to the driver and guard to warn them.In the present case, the Nadiad deputy station superintendent should have cautioned all trains headed towards Ahmedabad of the track repairs near Mehamdabad.
However, the driver nor the guard of Bandra-Jamnagar Intercity travelling on the route at 5.10 pm that day was not given the ‘caution order’ at Nadiad. Sans the warning, the train hurtled towards the repair site at about 100 kmph. The train was carrying at least 600 passengers.
As it approached Mehamdabad, the driver, Suresh Shah, saw from a distance a number of workers repairing the track. He realised he was headed for trouble, and had to decided very quickly what to do. One choice for him was to apply emergency brakes to avoid running over 15-odd workers on the track, and risk a sudden stop causing the coaches to crash into each other and derail, endangering 600 lives.
The other was to continue going at 100 kmph and plough through the 15 workers, killing them on the spot.Suresh Shah opted for the emergency brakes. His train screeched to a halt yards before the work site. The resultant jerk was felt in all coaches one after the other. Passengers got flung, crashed against cabin walls and fell on each other. Outside, the train kicked up a cloud of dust due to the sudden stopping. But a tragedy was averted. All in the full gaze of the Mehamdabad station staff.
A relieved station master made a noting in his register and made out a ‘caution order’ before letting the train to proceed for its next stop at Ahmedabad Junction. Later, railway sources at Mehamdabad confirmed that the station master at Nadiad erred in not giving the driver a ‘caution order’.
The Nadiad-Mehamdabad section falls under Baroda division. When approached, its senior operating manager Pankaj Uke denied that any close-shave of the sort happened. But lots of other railway staff agreed that they were witness to the near-miss. Uke’s acknowledging the fact can lead to a number of heads to roll.
But whether he acknowledges or not, the black box in the train has recorded the fact that emergency brakes were applied near Mehamdabad station.
Sources at Nadiad station said the deputy station superintendent did make a ‘caution order’, but gave it to a peon to pass it on to the driver and guard. The peon, however, forgot to do that.
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, April 05, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009040520090405203802967ea77e153)
Close shave
» The driver should have got a caution note at Nadiad about the ongoing repair work near Mehamdabad. He did not
» Train was speeding at 100 km/hour when he spotted some people on the track
» The driver now had a choice to make – if he applied emergency brakes to save the labourers, he risked a derailment
» He took the risk and used emergency brakes
Hundreds of passengers and a dozen track workers had a brush with death and now realise they owe their lives to the driver of Bandra-Jamnagar train but for whose alertness there could have been a bloodbath near Mehamdabad a couple of days ago. Railway officials, though, have been trying to hush up the matter claiming the incident never happened.
The incident relates to March 31 when work was in progress on the track near Mehamdabad station, about 30 km from Ahmedabad . About 15 workers were carrying out repair, owing to which trains travelling on the route were being asked to slow down. According to the standard procedure, the station superintendent of the last station that leads to the site where the work in on hands over a ‘caution order’ to the driver and guard to warn them.In the present case, the Nadiad deputy station superintendent should have cautioned all trains headed towards Ahmedabad of the track repairs near Mehamdabad.
However, the driver nor the guard of Bandra-Jamnagar Intercity travelling on the route at 5.10 pm that day was not given the ‘caution order’ at Nadiad. Sans the warning, the train hurtled towards the repair site at about 100 kmph. The train was carrying at least 600 passengers.
As it approached Mehamdabad, the driver, Suresh Shah, saw from a distance a number of workers repairing the track. He realised he was headed for trouble, and had to decided very quickly what to do. One choice for him was to apply emergency brakes to avoid running over 15-odd workers on the track, and risk a sudden stop causing the coaches to crash into each other and derail, endangering 600 lives.
The other was to continue going at 100 kmph and plough through the 15 workers, killing them on the spot.Suresh Shah opted for the emergency brakes. His train screeched to a halt yards before the work site. The resultant jerk was felt in all coaches one after the other. Passengers got flung, crashed against cabin walls and fell on each other. Outside, the train kicked up a cloud of dust due to the sudden stopping. But a tragedy was averted. All in the full gaze of the Mehamdabad station staff.
A relieved station master made a noting in his register and made out a ‘caution order’ before letting the train to proceed for its next stop at Ahmedabad Junction. Later, railway sources at Mehamdabad confirmed that the station master at Nadiad erred in not giving the driver a ‘caution order’.
The Nadiad-Mehamdabad section falls under Baroda division. When approached, its senior operating manager Pankaj Uke denied that any close-shave of the sort happened. But lots of other railway staff agreed that they were witness to the near-miss. Uke’s acknowledging the fact can lead to a number of heads to roll.
But whether he acknowledges or not, the black box in the train has recorded the fact that emergency brakes were applied near Mehamdabad station.
Sources at Nadiad station said the deputy station superintendent did make a ‘caution order’, but gave it to a peon to pass it on to the driver and guard. The peon, however, forgot to do that.
