A major accident was averted to Train No. 17247 (Narsapur-Dharmavaram) Express due to the presence of mind of the loco pilot, as some miscreants allegedly placed pieces of iron rails on the tracks between Kavali and Bitragunta stations early on Sunday.
When the train reached the point at 1.20 a.m., the brake pipe broke as an iron rail hit it, and the loco pilot, who observed this, stopped the train and alerted the officials concerned. The engineering staff, security control and the pointsman rushed to the spot, explained the situation to the higher officials and coupled the brake pipe. They recovered a piece of iron rail found near the tracks. The train was delayed for about half-an-hour due to the incident, South Central Railway (SCR) officials said.
Speaking to The Hindu on Sunday, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (Sr. DSC) Valleswar. B. Thokala said the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) along with the local (law and order) police rushed to the spot.
“We are investigating to find out whether it was a conspiracy or thieves had dropped the iron rail pieces on the tracks in the process of stealing them,” Mr. Valleswar said.
A dog squad was being pressed into service, he said.
Meanwhile, Train No.22807 (Santragachi Junction-Chennai Central), Train No.17250 (Kakinada Town-Tirupati), Train No.17644 (Kakinada Port-Chennai Egmore, Circar Express), Train No.17210 (Kakinada Town-SMVT Bengaluru, Seshadri Express), were delayed for some time due to the incident, the SCR officials said.
