Railway enthusiast saves lives of lakhs of Mumbai local train commuters

Mumbai: 23-year-old railway enthusiast G Sakpal averted a possible disaster at Kurla railway station in Mumbai on Monday.

According to a report, Sakpal spotted that a fishplate at Kurla station on Harbour line - the metal bar bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together in a track - had come loose.

Sakpal was waiting for a train on platform no 7, with hundreds of other commuters, around 7.30 am to get to his office when he saw that a part of the rail, some 4-5 metres away, was jutting out on the top, and that a fishplate had been damaged. The loosening of the fishplate could have led to a catastrophe after more trains passed over the tracks

Sakpal immediately alerted the motorman of the train standing there and also called up the railway helpline.

Railway officials were quoted as saying that a team of gangmen and workers was immediately dispatched to take care of the damaged track.

The repairs led to a minor delay in train services on the Harbour line. The services resumed at 8 am but trains were told to stick to a speed of 10 kilometres per hour.

The incident happened just a day after Railways launched a mega-block, which was labeled a success.