Close call as goods train, express almost collide

KOCHI : Avoiding a major mishap in the nick of time, a goods train carrying petroleum and an express train stopped around 150 metres away from each other near the

North Railway Station

on Tuesday evening around 7.10pm.

The green signal given to the

Nizamuddin Express

traveling from Thiruvananthapuram to Nizamuddin on track 1was misread by a goods train, which was stationed at track 3. The goods train then proceeded to move to track 1. However, as soon as it made contact with track 1, the signal turned red and both the trains stopped over 100metres away from each other.


“There was no chance of collision as the red signal lights up whenever two train approaches the same rail,” said Harikrishnan R, Railway Area Manager.

As the rail was not cleared for the crossing over of the goods train from track 3 to 1, certain damages were caused to the railway line, which however was repaired within two hours’ time.“If the goods train was moving in a higher speed, it could have easily derailed upon hitting the clamped rail, which was not prepared for the crossing over from track 3. It was carrying petroleum and had it derailed, it would have resulted in a major tragedy,” a passenger said. The locopilot of the goods train has been suspended by the authorities and the railways will be launching a probe into the incident.

Island Express

and

Chennai Mail

were delayed by over an hour due to the incident.