The loco pilot of Guruvayur Express applied emergency brakes at Naraikinarau railway station near Tirunelveli after a “human error” left an AC locomotive stranded on the mainline at the neighbouring Gangaikondan railway station late on Monday evening.
Though railway officials said applying of emergency brakes was nothing unusual, the last minute alert to the loco pilot of the Guruvayur-bound train by the Station Master (SM) at Naraikinaru prevented a possible accident as the express train was moving at 100 kmph towards Gangaikondan railway station, seven km away.
A railway official said the SM at Gangaikondan had inadvertently given signal for the electric locomotive, going towards Naraikinaru, to take a non-electrified track. The locomotive was supposed to stop on the loopline at Gangaikondan station so that Guruvayur Express could be allowed to proceed non-stop on the mainline towards Tirunelveli.
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However, realising that the electric locomotive was going towards a non-electrified track, the locopilot stopped the engine a few metres ahead of Gangaikondan station. “The engine had passed the Home signal,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Gangaikondan SM alerted his counterpart at Naraikinaru and asked him to stop the in-coming Guruvayur Express.
However, even before the alert message could be passed, the train that had left Vanchi Maniyachi station around 7.20 p.m. had crossed Naraikinaru station.
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On getting the alert, the driver applied emergency brakes resulting in a screeching halt of the full formation of the train between the starter and advanced starter signals (signals for despatch of train from a railway station) at Naraikinaru.
As a result, Guruvayur Express, and Chennai-bound Kanyakumari Express, Nellai Express and Anathapuri Express were detained at different stations for nearly an hour. A railway official said a detailed enquiry would be conducted into the incident.