NB Exclusive Update: Pointsman Sheikh Mohammad Khalip & station master suspended for dereliction of duty after loco pilots averted major accident in Odisha's Balasore
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A day after a potential mishap at Nilagiri Road railway station in Odisha's Balasore was averted due to the alertness of the loco pilot of the Bhadrak-Balasore MEMU train, the Divisional Railway Manager of Kharagpur Division of South Eastern Railway suspended the station manager and pointsman on Wednesday.
With the tragic triple crash, which claimed the lives of 293 people, still fresh in the public mind, the sudden reverse movement of the MEMU train around 1 p.m. on Tuesday after the loco pilot applied brakes after noticing that the locomotive had entered the down loop line, where maintenance work was underway, even though the signal for the mainline was clear, caused panic among the passengers. The station is only 15 kilometres from Bahanaga, which saw one of the deadliest train accidents in two decades last month.
After the rails were fixed, the MEMU left Nilagiri station, and passengers breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived in Balasore.
Earlier today, Newsbharati reported the news in an exclusive ground report, as to how the Loco Pilots got a “green signal” to go via the main line, but due to an error in the Interlocking signal system, the train passed into the loop line.
The Railways authorities had said that the train was moving at 7-8 kmph and therefore, chances of an accident was less. The loco pilot had also corroborated, saying that derailment was unlikely but the tracks could have suffered damage had the train moved on.
However, train services on this downline was disrupted for more than two hours following the incident.
A senior railway official told that Nilgiri Road Station Manager Subas Sethy and Pointsman Sheikh Mohammad Khalip had been suspended for neglect of duty.
With the tragic triple crash, which claimed the lives of 293 people, still fresh in the public mind, the sudden reverse movement of the MEMU train around 1 p.m. on Tuesday after the loco pilot applied brakes after noticing that the locomotive had entered the down loop line, where maintenance work was underway, even though the signal for the mainline was clear, caused panic among the passengers. The station is only 15 kilometres from Bahanaga, which saw one of the deadliest train accidents in two decades last month.
After the rails were fixed, the MEMU left Nilagiri station, and passengers breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived in Balasore.
Earlier today, Newsbharati reported the news in an exclusive ground report, as to how the Loco Pilots got a “green signal” to go via the main line, but due to an error in the Interlocking signal system, the train passed into the loop line.
Seeing an imminent major accident, the 2 loco Pilots immediately applied emergency brakes as the train came to a Jolting halt making a thunderous sound and scaring the passengers who immediately got down on the railway tracks immediately.
Also Read: NB Exclusive | Sabotage in interlocking signal system? Another train accident averted after loco pilot slams emergency brakes in Odisha's Balasore
The Railways authorities had said that the train was moving at 7-8 kmph and therefore, chances of an accident was less. The loco pilot had also corroborated, saying that derailment was unlikely but the tracks could have suffered damage had the train moved on.
However, train services on this downline was disrupted for more than two hours following the incident.