‘Train drivers did their best to prevent mishap’

The driver of the Vidarbha Express, AR Khan, had just 1 minute and 17 seconds to hit the emergency brakes and avoid the collision.

The driver of the Vidarbha Express, AR Khan, had just 1 minute and 17 seconds to hit the emergency brakes and avoid the collision.

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The CST bound N-30 Kasara local derailed at around 9.31pm at the 115/5 kilometre mark between Kasara and Umbermali stations after running into a huge boulder that had fallen onto the tracks. Less than two minutes later, the Vidarbha Express crashed into the first coach of the derailed train.

The time lag between the derailed local train coming to a halt and the collision was only 1.17 seconds, said Subodh Jain, general manager of Central railway (CR). The Vidarbha Express’ locomotive pilot did his best to stop the train, but failed, he said, while speaking to the media at the site of the accident.

After the derailment, the lights in front of the local train started flashing, giving the drivers of the Vidarbha Express some warning that all was not well on the tracks, said Vinay Mittal, chairman, railway board.

He denied that human error was behind the accident, and insisted that the accident occurred because of the heavy rain that had lashed the area, resulting in a landslide.

More than 500 workers and four accident-relief trains (ART) were called in from Kalyan, Kurla, Bhusawal and Igatpuri to help during the restoration operation.

“Re-railing the locomotive and a coach piled on top of another is the most difficult task for us,” said a senior railway official.

So great was the impact of the collision between the CST-bound local and the Vidarbha Express that the fifth coach of the express (S-10) coach piled on top of the S-9 coach.