Patrolman spots fallen boulder on tracks, stops train on Mumbai-Pune rail route

Patrolman Motiram Lodhi who was on duty at that time, immediately stopped the approaching locomotive and informed his seniors about the incident

An alert patrolman averted an accident by stopping a locomotive along the Mumbai-Pune rail route as it was approaching a fallen boulder on the track in the early hours of Friday.

The incident occurred between Nagnath-Palasdhari section in Lonavala-Karjat Ghat on the up line. (File image)

Rail services on the route that had to be temporarily halted but it was restored by 8:15am on Friday morning.

The incident occurred between Nagnath-Palasdhari section in Lonavala-Karjat Ghat on the up line.

Due to heavy rainfall, a boulder along with muck from a nearby hill fell on the tracks around 12:50am.

Patrolman Motiram Lodhi who was on duty at that time, immediately stopped the approaching locomotive and informed his seniors about the incident. There were no passengers on the train and no one was injured in the incident.

“Minor damages to track, overhead wire and mast occurred but were repaired with the help of 100 labourers by around 8:15 am. During the restoration period, around ten trains were delayed for 30mins to an hour. As the boulder was huge, we had to split it and then move, before restoration of services,” said Shivaji Sutar, CPRO, Central Railway.