Title - Scare after goods wagons derail near Peelamedu

COIMBATORE: People living close to Peelamedu railway station in the city had a scare when four empty wagons of a goods train that were being pushed along a shunting line by a group of loading workers at the station derailed and almost fell over the houses located close to the railway line. A disaster was avoided only because the bogies rammed an electric post and stopped moving.On Friday morning, the goods train had arrived at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown next to the Peelamedu station carrying rice bags from Hosur. The rice bags were downloaded by the godown workers and the rake with four wagons detached from the engine. Later at noon, about 15 workers started to push the rake along the shunting line to park them at a convenient location. However, as they started pushing, the rake gained speed and ran for almost a kilometre before derailing near a residential area. If not for the electric post that came in the way, the wagons could have collapsed on the houses situated close to the railway line.

According to Peelamedu railway station master S Thomas, no coaches or wagons are to be moved without being attached to an engine. "We have sought an explanation from the FCI authorities. We are taking stock of the damages. A compensation amount would be charged from the FCI and its employees would be strictly warned against pushing empty wagons through the track,'' he said.

Local residents said FCI workers routinely push empty bogies through the tracks to park them at convenient locations. "The electric post saved us. Imagine if the wagons had collapsed over the houses. There must be more vigilance on the part of both the railways and the FCI. Why should the railways allow wagons to left on the station without the engine?'' asked S Sivasubrahmanyam, a local resident."There was an element of luck in the incident. The wagons were stopped by the electric post. As it was on the shunting line, the incident did not affect the running of passenger trains. But the incident exposes the callous way authorities allow people to manage bogies of goods trains,'' said R Raveendran, member, Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee and a native of Peelamedu. "We will bring up the issue before senior officials. The FCI must be more serious about running its business,'' added M Jameel Ahmed of Railway Consultative Committee.