Loco Pilot, Assistant Suspended For Proceeding To Puri With Level Crossing Gate Open

Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) on Saturday suspended loco pilot Govind Sahu and assistant loco pilot Umesh Kumar in connection with the incident of a train passing a level crossing while the gate was still open near Puri this morning.

The level crossing gate near Matiapada in Puri district was left wide open at around 7.25 am as Puri-Haita Tapaswini Express chugged through the stretch. The gateman was in the dock for allegedly not closing the gate despite instructions from the station master.

However, the preliminary findings of the senior officer-level committee found negligence on the part of the loco pilot and his assistant. They stopped the train for a minute and 50 seconds near the gate, but proceeded towards Puri Railway Station while the gate was still open. “They should have ensured that the gate was closed and then proceeded towards Puri,” the committee said.

It further said that there was no problem with the gate signal.

Following the incident, an inquiry committee of four senior officers was immediately constituted by DRM, Khurda Road, Braj Mohan Agarwal.