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Journalism of Courage
CHANDIGARH, March 26: A major rail tragedy was averted this morning when the empty rake of the Shatabdi Express went out of control and derailed at the Chandimandir Railway Station, near here, just a few minutes before the Kalka-bound Kalka-Howrah Mail, was to pass through.
As a result of the accident the morning Shatabdi Train to Delhi today was cancelled.
At about 3.40 a.m., the Shatabdi was being moved from the railway yard to the platform to be prepared for its regular Kalka-New Delhi run, when the driver noticed that the brakes were not working. Since the Kalka-Chandigarh section has a gradient, the train hurtled towards Chandimandir, about 16 km away.
The Kalka-Howrah Mail, whose scheduled arrival here is 3.40 a.m. reached at 4.14 a.m., making it possible for the authorities to detain it here, thereby averting a possible collision.
The sudden accident and cancellation came as a rude shock to Delhi-bound passengers who reached the station in the morning. The tickets of passengers scheduled to travel by this train, which was to depart from Chandigarh at 6.50 a.m. were refunded in the morning. Five buses were arranged for passengers of the Kalka-Howrah Mail to enable them to reach Kalka. The departure of the Kalka-Shimla Shivalik Delux Express was also delayed to enable passengers to catch the connecting train.
Meanwhile, early morning Delhi-bound delux buses were reported to be packed to capacity, though passenger traffic returned to normal later.
Divisional Railway Manager, Abmala, Vijay Kumar said that being a single-line track, a collision could have taken place between the empty bogies and the Kalka Mail, had the late-running train not been stopped here soon after the mishap.
While the driver of the runaway Shatabdi, Diwan Chand and his assistant, Sat Pal escaped unhurt, about a dozen air conditioning technicians who were on the train received bruises. The driver and his assistant were later medically examined at Kalka and found not to be under the influence of intoxicants, Kumar said.
As per standard procedure, the train was being diverted into a slip-siding at Chandimandir Station, when due to its high speed, it jumped tracks while switching from the mainline on to the siding and ploughed into the ground.
While the engine and two generator cars escaped damage as the coupling broke on derailment, the rake’s executive class coach and nine other coaches were heavily damaged. Though the upper parts and interiors were more or less intact, the undercarriages of all coaches were damaged and in some cases sheared off. Kumar said the exact damage could be ascertained only when the coaches are retrieved and examined at workshops.
Though the maximum speed on the Chandigarh-Kalka section is restricted to 50 km per hour, the runaway train had touched a speed of 112 km per hour.About 500 meters of the station’s No.1 line and about 100 meters of the main line were completely damaged when the bogies derailed. Kumar said the derailment would not affect the running of Shatabdi Express trains on the Kalka-Delhi route.
Rail traffic on the Chandigarh-Kalka section, which was suspended for a few hours, was restored in the afternoon, by using the station’s No.3 track. The repair of the damaged tracks and resumption of normal functioning is expected within 24 hours, Kumar said.
The DRM said that they learnt about the incident at 4.15 am and the first team, including Additional DRM, Ashwini Kapoor and some other officers were despatched to the site immediately. An Accident Relief Train, including a 120 tonne crane was requisitioned from Ludhiana followed by a 140 tonne crane from Delhi. As many as 400 officers and workers were employed for the clearing operation.
An inquiry into the incident has been ordered. The three-member team headed by Chief Engineer (Track Supply and Production), R.K. Gupta includes Chief Safety Officer Asit Gupta and Chief Rolling Stock Engineer, Varun Bharduar.
