Kochi: A crack on the railway track was detected in the nick of time by an alert ‘keyman’ as the Chennai-Alappuzha Express came to a screeching halt even as its engine lapped over the damaged track portion on the Kalamassery-Edapally section on Friday. The near-mishap happened at 7.45 am near Pathadipalam when ‘keyman’ Rajesh Kumar Chowdary noticed the crack which was “good enough to cause a derailment.” However, he acted swiftly. Meanwhile, the train departed Kalamassery and was fast approaching the section.
“I followed the standard operating procedure and attached a detonator in the section. This is to alert the loco pilot of incoming trains about the rail defect so that they can take precaution immediately,” he said. “I informed my senior officers and then ran towards the Kalamassery side waving a red flag as the signal was cleared for train from that side to pass through the section,” Chowdary said. The loco pilot of the incoming train noticed the ‘keyman’ passing the danger signal and immediately applied the brakes. However, the engine passed the section and the train came to a halt when the second rake too lapped over the ‘rail fracture’ spot.
“The train came to a complete halt when two of the coaches passed over the crack. With the Karukutty incident still fresh in memory, most of the passengers walked though the tracks to reach the National Highway nearby. However, temporary repair was done on the tracks using clamps and the train resumed its journey 40 minutes later, said Robin Jacob, a Thrissur native who works at a book publishing company in Ernakulam. Following the incident, trains services were in disarray with most trains running half-an-hour to one hour behind schedule.
