New Delhi: An alert and quick-thinking locomotive pilot of Vande Bharat train averted a major rail mishap in Odisha’s Nuapada. Sources said some miscreants had placed a massive stone on the railway tracks near the Nuapada gate. As soon as the pilot spotted the stone, he immediately applied the emergency brakes and stopped the train. The locomotive pilot then informed the station master. This saved the lives of hundreds of passengers.
The Vande Bharat Express remained halted at the site for about an hour until the stone was removed, after which the rail traffic resumed. The incident reportedly occurred around 10 pm on Sunday. The Vande Bharat Express was travelling from Visakhapatnam to Durg when the incident occurred between Nuapada and Khariar.
Nihar Mohanty, a senior public relations officer of the East Coast Railway, confirmed the incident, saying that the railway department is currently investigating the matter. Investigations are also conducted to determine who committed this act and what was the motive.
Multiple attempts to derail trains
Indian Railways has been grappling with several attempts to derail trains since June this year, even though in most of the cases, accidents and derailments were prevented.
In October, a loco pilot saw a gas cylinder on Roorkee-Luxor railway tracks in Uttarakhand and prevented a possible derailment.
On September 19, a seven-foot-long iron rod was found on tracks between Bilaspur road and Rudrapur before the Doon Express was to pass through. The train was halted in time and an accident averted.
On September 21, fish-plates were found removed near Surat in Gujarat before Bandra Garib Rath was to pass from there. On September 22, the locomotive pilot of a freight train noticed a gas cylinder put on the tracks near Prempur railway station in Kanpur, averting a potential derailment.
On September 28, a boulder was spotted on the tracks near Uttar Pradesh’s Balia before passing of Lucknow-Chhapra Express. A big stone was found placed on the tracks on Jhansi-Manikpur section near Mahoba in UP the same day.
