| Major train tragedy averted Alert operating and power cabin staff halt train after it jumps red sign by Jitendar on 22 October, 2012 - 09:30 PM | ||
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 Jitendar | Major train tragedy averted Alert operating and power cabin staff halt train after it jumps red sign on 22 October, 2012 - 09:30 PM | |
Ludhiana: A major train tragedy was averted here late last evening. But for an alert railway operating and power cabin staff, thousands of passengers aboard the Ambala Cantt-Amritsar passenger train (DMU) and the 12238 Begumpura Superfast Express from Jammu Tawi to Varanasi would have been in danger as both trains were running on the same track in opposite directions near the Ludhiana railway station.According to railway officials, the driver of the Ambala-Amritsar passenger train jumped the red signal and moved on the down line ahead of the Ludhiana railway station unmindful of the fact that the Begumpura Superfast train from Jammu was coming on the same track from the opposite side.On realising the grave lapse on the part of the driver of the passenger train, the power cabin and operating staff stopped the passenger train near Lakkar Pal just ahead of the railway station while the oncoming superfast train was given a halt at the Ladhowal railway station, about 10 km from here.Divisional Traffic Manager Palwinder Singh and Station Superintendent RK Sharma, along with other officials, visited the spot where the passenger train was halted. After about 50 minutes, the passenger train was brought back to the Ludhiana railway station where the driver, Ranjit Singh, was detrained and got medically examined.The passenger train as well as the Begumpura Superfast Express commenced their onward journey after a one hour delay, which kept the passengers aboard both trains on tenterhooks.As the railway traffic on both the up and down tracks was suspended till the time the two trains remained halted, more than a dozen trains, including the Amritsar-New Delhi evening Shatabdi, were delayed for around an hour.Divisional Railway Manager NC Goyal said a committee headed by the Senior Divisional Operating Manager would conduct an inquiry into the incident. The driver of the passenger train had been placed under suspension. | ||