Alert staffer notices rly track fracture, saves major tragedy

The vigilance of a railway staffer patrolling the tracks between Akurdi and Chinchwad railway stations helped avert a major disaster after he noticed a railway track fracture and alerted rail authorities to halt train operations on the damaged track on Wednesday morning. An express train that was supposed to use the tracks was timely stopped.

Pune division railway manager Suneet Sharma said, “It was a good job done by the patrolling party. It is a part of preventive measures that the team carries out.”

According to the railway authorities, the incident took place around 8.30 am after a Lonavala-Pune local train passed from Bijalinagar area and the railway track fracture occurred. 

Railway staffer Lakshman Janu who was on patrol duty spotted the crack that is called as rail fracture.

Lakshman alerted the railway administration about the damaged tracks.

“After receiving the information, we immediately passed on the message to halt the intercity train (2127) that was going to pass from the same tracks. A mechanical staff that was deployed at the spot took nearly half an hour to repair the tracks and the express train was halted during this period. Only after the tracks were repaired and examined by senior officials did we allow train operations to resume on the tracks,” a railway official said.

When asked about the reason for the damage of the tracks, a railway official said, “The railway track fracture takes place during extreme weather conditions. Nowadays there is a cold weather due to which the tracks get contracted and if a train goes over them, it gets expanded due to the heat generated by the friction and the process sometimes result into track fracture.”