Railway engineer run over by goods train

MUMBAI: A railway engineer was run over by a goods train near Kopar railway station on Wednesday. It was the second such incident on Central railway within a month

MUMBAI: A railway engineer was run over by a goods train near Kopar railway station on Wednesday. It was the second such incident on Central railway within a month and labour unions blame unsafe working condition responsible for the incident.

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Railway sources said the assistant divisional signal and telecom engineer Navneet Govind Palane and Devu Dhave from the signal and telecom department were run over by a goods train, when Palane was inspecting digital axel counters (DAC) between Dombivli and Kopar stations. Dhave sustained injuries to his leg and has been admitted to the railway hospital in Kalyan, according to railway sources.

“They were walking on the fifth line. As they noticed a train coming from the opposite direction, they shifted towards the sixth line. They did not see an oncoming goods train,” said a railway union leader.

Recently, a gangman was run over by a suburban train at Tilak Nagar station. Earlier, four gangmen were run over by a train between Kurla and Vidyavihar station when they were returning back to station after completion of block, in mid-February.

“Every month a railwayman dies in such incidents on tracks in Mumbai,” said Venu Nair, general secretary of National Railway Mazdoor Union. He held increasing work pressure along with unsafe working conditions responsible for the increase cases.

Praveen Bajpeyee, leader of Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS), said the railways are not adopting the adequate safety measures.

Narendra Patil, chief spokesperson of CR confirmed the incident, terming it as ‘unfortunate’.