Rail tragedy averted in Tamil Nadu

SALEM: A major rail accident was averted in Tamil Nadu on Sunday morning thanks to the presence of mind of the loco pilots of two trains that came on the same track from opposite directions.
The incident happened at Uthukuli station in Tiruppur district at 7.30am.
Railway officials said following a technical snag, tracks had to be clamped manually to align the train movements."However, when a pointsman set the clamping of the tracks, he did it wrongly on the reverse direction, due to which No 12680-Coimbatore Chennai Intercity Express train leaving Uthukuli and No 17230 Hyderabad-Trivandrum Sabari Express train coming towards Uthukuli arrived on the same track," they said.
The loco pilots stopped their trains at a safe distance, thus averting a possible head on collision, they added.
Several trains were delayed due to the incident. They include No 22638-Mangalore Chennai West Coast Express, No 12084-Coimbatore Mayiladuthurai Jan Shatabdi Express, No 22852 Mangalore Santragachi Vivek Express, No 17230-Hyderabad-Trivandrum Sabari Express, No 66601 Erode Coimbatore (MEMU) passenger train.
"Now, the signal has been set right and the trains are running normally," an official said.
"Uthukuli station master Mukesh Kumar and pointsman Dilip Kumar have been placed under suspension and department enquiry has been initiated against them," the official added.