With a seven-foot-long overhead equipment mast found in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday, railway authorities have stepped up patrolling along tracks and are removing broken iron girders. This is the third such incident reported by a loco pilot in the past 15 days. All three incidents have occurred on the Central Railway.
On February 6, a five-foot-long iron girder, weighing around 400 kg, was found on the tracks by the driver of the Pune-Santragachi Express between Kalamboli and Taloja stations. Initially, the driver failed to notice the girder because of the dark and dragged it for few metres. Around 7.15 p.m., he noticed an obstacle in the wheel and immediately stopped the train. The Pune-Santragachi Express starts from Pune and halts at Kalamboli and Panvel before heading to Santragachi in West Bengal.
A senior Central Railway official said, “The train could have been derailed had the girder been placed across the track. A major accident was averted.” The Kalamboli police registered a case under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Railways Act, 1989.
On January 24, the driver of the Madgaon-Dadar Janshatabdi Express spotted a seven-metre-long rail piece on the tracks near Diva station. The railway police are investigating the incident and have questioned almost 150 people, including railway staff.
After the arrest of a key suspect, Samshul Hoda, from Nepal for his alleged role in recent train accidents in Bihar and Kanpur, railway officials are on the alert. An official said, “We are taking all precautions to avoid such incidents in future. We are also informing all loco pilots and local train drivers to be alert. We are trying to deploy extra staff to ensure more safety and focus more attention on such activities.” Night patrolling has been increased on tracks and in areas with low presence of police and railway staff.
G.C. Agrawal, General Manager, Western Railway, said, “Sometimes some portion of the rail are left behind after work. We have instructed all workers to immediately remove such pieces from the tracks.” Atul Srivastav, Chief Security Commissioner, Central Railway, said, “This is a serious concern and we have given orders to clear the tracks completely after the work to avoid any such untoward incidents.”
