Four persons were suspended for alleged wrongful operation of block instrument after a locomotive and a coach of the Chennai Central-Palani Express derailed at Dasampatti near Kallavi here in the small hours of Thursday.
A major accident was averted and the passengers of the train escaped unhurt. The locomotive went on to a sleeper line, pulling along an unreserved coach before coming to a halt barely minutes after it started from Dasampatti station around 1.50 a.m. on the Jholarpet-Salem section. Over 1,400 passengers had a fortuitous escape and were escorted to safety.
Later, the passengers were accommodated on trains to Salem where the Southern Railway had arranged food for them.
Palani Express had left Chennai Central with 19 coaches, including three AC coaches, 10 sleeper coaches, and six general compartments at 9.30 p.m. Wednesday. The train had crossed Kallavi in Uthangarai here at the time of the accident.
The accident was reportedly caused by erroneous signalling which was attributed to wrong operation of the block instrument and a wrong communication to the loco pilot without the insuring points ready for operation.
According to sources, the train ought to have shifted to Salem line after it left Dasampatti.
Action takenFour employees of the railways, including Umesh Prasad, on duty Station master, Senthil Kumar, on duty sweeper, Nith Kumar Mishra, regular station master, all of Dasampatti station and Sanjay Prasad, Traffic Inspector of Morappur station — were suspended.
Responding to a text message from The Hindu , Hari Shankar Verma, Divisional Railway Manager, Salem, said the station master was responsible for “wrong operation of block instrument. He also issued message to the driver of the train without insuring points being correctly set.”
The passengers were looked after and were sent to their respective destinations safely, Mr. Verma said.
A two-member team from the Southern Railway — John Thomas, Chief Safety Officer, and Mohammed Lateef Khan, Chief Track Engineer — are holding inquiry.
A major accident was averted because the train had just picked momentum after a halt at Dasampatty station. The derailment was grim as the track runs along a lake near Dasampatty. Timely action by the loco pilot who brought the train to a screeching halt averted a major accident.
A loco with two coaches arrived from Jholarpet and was linked to the Palani Express before the train was ready for resuming its run at about 7 a.m. The derailed loco and the coach were removed with cranes.
Trains delayedThe New Delhi-Trivandrum Kerala Express, Chennai Central-Madurai Duronto Express, Chennai Central-Coimbatore Cheran Express, Erode-Chennai Central Yercaud Express, Hyderabad-Trivandrum Sabari Express, Gorakpur-Trivandrum Rapti Sagar Express were delayed on both sides.
The line was restored after a few hours.
