Station Master, Pointsman Suspended Following Narrow Escape of MEMU Train from Accident at Nilagiri

Balasore: Divisional Railway Manager of Kharagpur Division under South Eastern Railway on Wednesday suspended the station master and pointsman of Nilagiri Road railway station for negligence. This decision was taken in relation to the incident on Monday in which a major train accident was averted because of the alertness of the loco pilot of the Bhadrak-Balasore MEMU train.

Nilgiri Road Station Manager Subas Sethy and Pointsman Sheikh Mohammad Khalip were placed under suspension for dereliction in their duties.

Noticing that the MEMU train had entered the loop track at Nilagiri station at around 1 pm, the loco pilot stopped the train by applying brakes. The locomotive had entered the down loop line even though the signal was through for the mainline.

The MEMU left Nilagiri station for Balasore after the tracks were repaired.

The Railways authorities said as the MEMU was traveling at a low speed of 7-8 kmph, the chances of derailment or any accident were minimal. But the tracks could have suffered damage had the train moved on.

Because of this incident, train services on this downline were disrupted for more than two hours.