A fast train rammed into a dead end at Churchgate railway station after the motorman lost control.
A fast train rammed into a dead end at Churchgate railway station after the motorman lost control. Such was the impact of the accident that one coach of the 12-coach local train from Bhayander jumped the bumper and hit a four-foot boundary wall at the station’s platform No. 3. Fortunately, there were no major casualties in the accident because the station was not crowded at that time because it was Sunday. The accident caused minor injuries to three women and two men.
The incident took place at around 11.20 am on Sunday. Almost half of the second-class ladies compartment behind the motorman was suspended mid-air after the train, which was said to be at 30 kmph, hit the bumper. The unstoppable train screeched forward and climbed up the boundary wall that has been put up around the edge of the platform.
Just two days ago, one of the two new Bombardier rakes grazed the bumper at Churchgate, but it didn’t result in any injuries or damage. However, the accident seen on Sunday was the first of a kind. An official, on condition of anonymity, said, “The train rammed into the bumper but it was travelling very fast, so it just kept going, breaking the boundary wall. The front portion of the train is completely crushed. As the coach went up the bumper, it touched the equipment of the overhead wire, which snapped. The wheels are also damaged. It’s a miracle that there were no serious injuries.”
The motorman of the train, motor guard and their superior — the loco-inspector — have all been suspended pending further inquiry. Senior railway officials, however, suspect that the motorman was on the phone when the accident happened. This suspicion has been triggered because his entire call data log was erased when he submitted the phone to railway officials after being taken into custody for inquiry.
Western Railway (WR) general manager Sunil Kumar Sood said that the accident seemed to be 99 per cent human error, he said, “There was no problem in the rake since it was working fine until Marine Lines station. We have suspended the motorman, guard and their supervisor as of now. We will also be looking at the speedometer in the train that will tell us the exact speed of the train when it approached Churchgate station. We cannot find his call log now. We are not sure if he erased it or he did not make any calls, so we will try and look into it and only then see what action is to be taken next.”
Services on WR were already hit due to the jumbo block on Sunday and there were no services between Dadar and Mumbai Central on both the fast lanes. After the accident, platform numbers 3 and 4 were completely shut down. Services resumed only by 8 pm. “We will be able to resume services only in six hours. Until then we expect a lot of cancellations. For now we can only say that the final report of the inquiry will be out in four to five days,” added Mr Sood.
According to sources, the motorman has been identified as L.S. Tiwari and has suffered minor injuries.
