An alert trackman, Y. Chandru Naidu who averted what could have been a mishap to train no. 12621 Chennai - New Delhi Tamil Nadu Express in the wee hours of December 15 was lauded and received a cash award at the Rail Nilayam in Hyderabad on Wednesday from General Manager, South Central Railway, P.K. Srivastava.
Early on December 15, while patrolling the track between Tsunduru and Tenali Stations on the Chennai-Vijayawada route at about 3.20 a.m., he noticed a flash butt weld failure having a gap of 8mm that led to a level difference of 60 mm between the separated rails. He alerted the Divisional Control Office at Vijayawada and information was passed on to senior officials.
Meanwhile, the New Delhi-bound Tamil Nadu Express that had already left Tsunduru station and was headed towards Tenali, was alerted and promptly stopped by the night patrolman flashing a red lamp signal. At about 4.05 a.m., M. Sambasiva Rao, Senior Supervisor and others rushed to the spot, lifted the track and bringing the rails to an even level, fish-plated and clamped them without loss of time.
The express train was allowed to pass at a restricted speed of 20 km per hour, at about 4.40 a.m. The alertness and timely action of the trackman had averted a train mishap and appropriate immediate corrective action by engineering officials without loss of time in the early hours had ensured in minimising train detention said, Mr. Srivastava, appreciating the safety consciousness and alertness of the staff on duty.
