Four persons were injured, one of them seriously, when trains collided inside India’s longest tunnel at Karbude between Ukshi and Bhoke stations near Ratnagiri on the Konkan Railway, near here. The 6.5 km-long Karbude tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in regular passenger use on Indian Railways.
Ironically, Konkan Railway has patented and selling to the world a safety device that it has developed called the anti-collision device (ACD) or Raksha Kawach. ACDs fitted on a locomotive and guard van continuously monitor the emergency situations that may lead to collisions, while the train is either stationary or on move by detecting presence of other train en-route and bringing it to a halt.
The Konkan Kanya Express, an ISO-certified train, that was on its way to Mumbai was halted inside the tunnel after an alarm chain was pulled at 12.05 a.m. “Some CISF personnel had got into a fight in the train and pulled the alarm chain,” an official said.
A diesel-run Rail Maintenance Vehicle (RMV) with staff was following the train after a gap of five minutes for some engineering welding repair work. The RMV was supposed to pass at a restricted speed, but was reportedly running at a higher speed and could not stop in time when it saw the flasher and tail lamp of the Konkan Kanya Express.
The 760-km Konkan Railway is an engineering marvel that connects two important cities of the country — Mumbai and Mangalore — passing through a region having a very tough terrain.
{{/usCountry}}The 760-km Konkan Railway is an engineering marvel that connects two important cities of the country — Mumbai and Mangalore — passing through a region having a very tough terrain.
{{/usCountry}}