The Auxiliary Warning System (AWS) put in place after a motorman jumped the bumper at Churchgate on July 28 last year has helped avert a head-on collision between Harbour line Masjid and CST at 7.33 am.
Motorman D.P. Atkale who was driving the Andheri to CST train did not see the red signal ahead of him, and tried to enter Harbour’s platform number 1, from where a CST to Bandra train was already leaving. Sources said the train came to a grinding halt as the AWS, realising the human error, jumped into action mode and pulled the emergency brake at a distance of merely 100 metre between the two trains that were otherwise headed for collision.
An official said, “The train towards Bandra was leaving platform number 1, so the train from Andheri was given the red signal as Andheri, Bandra and Vashi trains arrive at and depart from only platform number 1. The motorman said that he just did not see the signal and realised that it was red only when the AWS kicked in and brought the train to a grinding halt.”
Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD) is one of the biggest offences that can be committed by a motorman, as the chances of a head-on collision with a train from the opposite side are highly probable. Central Railway (CR) Chief Public Relations Officer, Narendra Patil, denied that the collision had almost happened. “There was no such issue and there was only one train from Andheri entering the platform,” he said.
Meanwhile, owing to AWS having been activated, the train was stuck at the spot for 45 minutes, only after which the automatic system was switched off and the train was allowed to enter CST. This caused a cascading effect with 20 services being cancelled and 60 delayed with commuters seeing a delay of half-an-hour during peak hour, so much so, commuters at Chembur even staged a rail roko from 9.37 am to 10.00 am. Commuters were doubly irritated as the incident came hours after the 72-hour-block on Harbour between CST and Vadala was lifted.
