Train crashes into buffer in Mumbai, Prabhu orders an inquiry

There were no passengers on the train, but a railway guard, who was allegedly driving, suffered minor injuries

An empty suburban train crashed into the dead-end buffer on platform number five of CST while it was being shunted at 2.25am on Tuesday. The incident brought back memories of a similar mishap at Churchgate station last June.

Railway workers repair the damage after a local train crashed into the dead-end buffer on platform number five of CST. (Arijit Sen/ HT)

There were no passengers on the train, but a railway guard, who was allegedly driving, suffered minor injuries. The mishap disrupted CR’s early morning suburban train operations besides delaying peak-hour services by at least 20-25 minutes. Taking serious note of the mishap, Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu ordered a probe into the incident.

CR officials said the train could have hit a dead-end at the speed of 10kmph. Railway sources, however, said that the extent of damage to the dead-end buffer and the coach suggest that the train could have been running at a higher speed.

The buffer that remains concealed in a concrete block got completed uprooted and the front portion of the coach along with the cattle guard suffered heavy damage.

According to sources, a guard, Shankar Naik, was allegedly driving the train when it crashed into the dead end. People present at the time of the mishap rescued him out from the damaged motorman’s cabin. Naik has suffered a leg injury and has been admitted to Byculla railway hospital for treatment.

Motorman Vijay Khanvilkar had been assigned the duty of shunting the train. Sources said he has given a written statement to the railway administration that he had finished shunting another train on platform number six and was going to take this train to platform five when he saw somebody else driving it.