Railways have suspended the loco pilot and assistant loco pilot of the 16382 Kanyakumari-Mumbai CST Express for ‘overshooting’ the ‘starter’ signal at Kochuveli on Sunday and taking the rake 225 metres further on the Thrivuananthapuram-Kollam railway line.
The incident occurred around 9 a.m. when the 12202 Kochuveli-Lokmanya Tilak Garib Rath Express was proceeding from platform VIII of the Kochuveli terminal to Kazhakuttam and the 566307 Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Passenger train was despatched by the station master to Thiruvananthapuram Central.
The 16382 Express, which commenced the onward journey from Thiruvananthapuram Central at 8.55 a.m., waited at the reception signal for the reception and despatch of the passenger train.
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Subsequently, the reception signal was alone cleared for road II.
The16382 Express overshot the ‘starter signal’ on road II which was in ‘stop aspect’ at Kochuveli. The ‘starter signal’ usually turns green only after the 12202 Express crosses Kazhakuttam. But, the 16382 Express cleared reception signal 4 and went 225 metres ahead.
Judging the error, loco pilot J. Nagarajan applied brakes and brought the train to a halt.
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Assistant loco pilot M. Nagarajan was with him. The train was held up for 120 minutes at Kochuveli following the incident.
Action takenRailways rushed another loco pilot and assistant loco pilot to replace the two involved in the incident.
“Theoretically it is an accident and a very serious safety breach as the red signal had been jumped. But, in real time there is no chance of an accident in the up line,” a senior divisional railway official told The Hindu .
It has been found that nine coaches of the train, which had 19 coaches, jumped the signal before the 12202 Express reached Kazhakuttam. Preliminary inquiry by Railways found that it was a ‘grave fault’ on part of Mr. Nagarajan and his assistant.
Railways has a computerised data logger in the control room at the divisional railway headquarters at Thycaud.
It monitors train movements by the fraction of a millisecond. It has been linked to the zonal headquarters and railway board. The simulation has been taken.
Railways have set up a four-member committee, comprising the Senior Divisional Operations Manager, the Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Divisional Electrical Manager (Operations), and Divisional Safety Officer, for a detailed inquiry. The committee will meet on Monday and hear the loco pilot and the assistant.
Sources say the two face removal of service for slackness in duty as per rules.