Alert driver averts train collision

The alertness of a train operator averted a major mishap near here on Sunday, when two passenger trains came onto the same track, with one in motion.

According to railway sources, the Rohilkhand Express and the Gonda-Mailani passenger train were on the same track at Daliganj station on the Lucknow-Gorakhpur section of the North Eastern Railway. Sources said that Rohilkhand Express was stationary when the passenger train was given a green signal to proceed.

The driver of the passenger train applied the emergency brakes on seeing the other train on the same platform. Incidentally, the speed of the passenger train was slow enough to avoid a collision. Taking a serious view of the matter, the railway authorities have suspended five employees on charges of laxity and ordered a probe into the same. Without ruling out technical failure, they maintained that the real reason for the incident could be known only after the probe.

Traffic on the route remained affected for several hours.