Loco pilot G. Shivaraman, attached to the Mysuru depot of South Western Railway, was lucky for the second time.
Mr. Shivaraman was piloting Train No. 16518/16524 Kannur/Karwar-Bengaluru Express from Mangaluru Central towards Bengaluru early on Monday morning, when he noticed a boulder just besides the track on the ghat section.
The train was moving at the permissible speed limit of 30 kmph on the relatively flatter gradient of the ghat. Mr. Shivaraman applied the emergency brakes and the engine brushed past the boulder. Due to the impact, both engines as well as another following general class coach derailed.
Back in December 2013, Mr. Shivaraman had a similar experience while piloting the same train from Bengaluru towards Mangaluru. He noticed broken rails between Kadagaravalli and Yedakumeri in the night and applied the emergency brakes. That time too the train got derailed, but without any casualties.
“Though the boulder was on the side of the track, it was not possible for the train to pass through and hence, I applied the brakes,” Mr. Shivaraman, who was being assisted by assistant loco pilot Santosh Kumar, told The Hindu .
Mysuru Divisional Railway Manager Raj Kumar Lal said a major mishap would have occurred if the pilot was not attentive. Mr. Shivaraman has been piloting trains for 33 years.
Two years ago, a broken rail on the ghat had resulted in derailment of the same train
