An alert loco-pilot of a Chennai-bound express train, Suresh, averted an accident by applying emergency brakes after he found two huge boulders on the track between Ambaturai and Kodai Road railway stations near Dindigul on Wednesday morning.
Consequently, the Madurai-Chennai special express train suffered detention for about 30 minutes at the spot.
According to railway sources, caution order had already been issued on the section where deep rock cutting was being done for laying the broad-gauge railway track in early 1990s.
While the sectional speed on Madurai-Tiruchi stretch is 100 kmph, the permanent caution order of 50 kmph between Ambaturai and Kodai Road had been issued as falling of boulders from the nearby rocky terrain on the track has been a regular feature on this stretch.
A railway source said that the crew acted swiftly and applied the emergency brakes immediately upon noticing the boulders on the track.
“With poor visibility due to inclement weather, the crew could notice the boulders only ahead of 600 metres. Since the train was moving only at a speed of 50 kmph, upon applying the emergency brakes, the train stopped just few metres before the boulders,” the source added.
The Chennai-bound express train that was stopped at around 7:45 a m could leave around 8:15 a.m. after officials removed both the boulders from the railway track.
