Station Manager, Pointsman Suspended After Alert Loco Pilot Averts ‘Bahanaga-Like’ Mishap In Odisha’s Balasore

Bhubaneswar: A day after a possible mishap was averted at Nilagiri Road railway station in Odisha’s Balasore due to alertness of the loco pilot of Bhadrak-Balasore MEMU train, the Divisional Railway Manager of Kharagpur Division under South Eastern Railway on Wednesday suspended the station manager and pointsman.

Nilgiri Road Station Manager Subas Sethy and Pointsman Sheikh Mohammad Khalip have been placed under suspension for dereliction of duty, informed a senior railway official.

With the tragic triple crash, which claimed 293 lives, still fresh in public memory, the sudden reverse movement of the MEMU train around 1 pm on Tuesday after the loco pilot applied brakes on noticing that the locomotive had entered the down loop line, where maintenance work was underway, even as the signal was through for the mainline, had created panic among the passengers. The station is just 15 km from Bahanaga, which witnessed one of worst rail mishaps in two decades last month.

The MEMU left Nilagiri station after the tracks were repaired and passengers heaved a sigh of relief on reaching Balasore.

Also Read: Close Shave For Memu Train After Entering Wrong Track In Odisha’s Balasore

The Railways authorities had said that the train was moving at 7-8 kmph and therefore, chances of an accident was less. The loco pilot had also corroborated, saying that derailment was unlikely but the tracks could have suffered damage had the train moved on.

However, train services on this downline was disrupted for more than two hours following the incident.