Major train accident averted in Howrah

A major accident was averted when two trains moving in opposite directions came on the same tracks at Sankrail in the Howrah-Kharagpur division today when the driver of a train apparently overshoot a signal.

The incident occurred at 3.20pm when Howrah-bound 8046 down East Coast Express and a Panskura-bound EMU local came on the same tracks from opposite direction, south eastern railway officials said in Kolkata.

The motorman of the local train had overshot the signal and after realising the mistake stopped the train immediately and pulled back, they said.

They, however, denied that it was an issue saying on the middle line in the section, which has three lines, trains are allowed to travel on both directions with reversible signalling system.

"It is a perfectly legitimate practice and the only error was the motorman overshooting the home signal at Sankrail," SE Railway CPRO Soumitra Bandopadhyay said.

While the EMU local was signalled to stop at the home signal, the East Coast Express was being diverted to the down line from the other end of the platform.

The local, after moving a little distance crossing the home signal, stopped as the express train was crossing over to the down line on the other end of the station, he said.

"There was at least a distance of 700 to 800 metres between the two trains when the incident took place," he said.

Passengers of the local train alleged negligence by railway officials.