E-Paper
Major accident averted due to alert railway employees
Due to the timely interception, an accident was averted as Lonavla - Pune Down Local (No. 01561) was slated to pass from that place
Pune
A major railway mishap was averted on Friday afternoon due to an alert railway employee near Akurdi Railway Station. During a routine track maintenance round, railway guard Sandeep Bhalerao spotted the boulders placed on the track and informed the deputy station manager at Chinchwad about the incident.
Due to the timely interception, an accident was averted as Lonavla - Pune Down Local (No. 01561) was slated to pass from that place. As per the information given by the railways, boulders were found to be thrown on the railway track by unknown anti-social elements near Akurdi Railway Station on the Pune-Lonavla Up Railway track (km 172/6-7) of Pune Railway Division.
Realising the gravity of the situation, Mathew George, Chinchwad station manager, M V Pavlkar, the train’s loco pilot, and Railway Manager (Guard) D K Verma were advised to proceed with caution.
Meanwhile, after informing Shailendra Tripathi, senior section engineer of the engineering department, and his team, who had come to this location for railway weld test work, the boulders placed on the railway track were removed with their assistance, and after the railway track was secured, train number 16352 Nagercoil - Mumbai Express was dispatched safely. Following that, the 11030 Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus Kolhapur-Mumbai Koyna Express went through the route as well.
The Railway Safety Force has launched an investigation into the incident of boulders being thrown on the railway track. In addition, to avoid such events, the railway administration, in coordination with the Engineering Department and the Railway Safety Force, assessed the railway track and decided to patrol such areas.
Earlier this week, the Udaipur-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express had to make an emergency stop after the locomotive pilots noticed stones obstructing the railway track.
