Train was moving between Kulem and Castle Rock in Western Ghats when front engine derailed; crew took train back to Kulem
BENGALURU:
For displaying the exemplary presence of mind in averting an accident and saving passengers’ lives recently, the crew of the SWR train moving from Kulem to Castle Rock (up the ghats) in the Dudhsagar-Sonaulim section have been lauded and presented with a cash reward by SWM general manager Gajanan Mallya.
On Friday, the loco pilot of the leading engine, Ranjeet Kumar, sensed the danger of a landslide and halted the train. Despite the immediate action, the engine got derailed. He informed the Station Master of Dudhsagar to alert the Control Office, Hubballi. The guard of the train, Shailender Kumar, applied hand brakes to the brake van, after which both instructed the assistant loco pilots to place detonators at a stipulated distance on the track and also secured the train by tying chains to the track.
Ranjeet and Shailender noticed that slush and mud were falling on the coaches immediately after the front-engine, and shifted the passengers from the first 3 coaches to the rear coaches and uncoupled these coaches from the rest of the train. Displaying alertness and presence of mind, the crew utilized the rear (banking) engine to pull the train with 345 passengers back to Kulem station. Guard Shailender Kumar, loco pilot SD Meena and assistant loco pilot SK Saini took the train safely back to Kulem, while Ranjeet Kumar and his assistant Hashid K stayed back with the derailed engine.
Treacherous section
The Castle Rock-Kulem Ghat section is 27 km long. It is a single-line rail section passing through the Western Ghats in uninhabited territory through the forested areas. The entire Ghat section has a steep gradient (1 in 37) and trains are pushed with engines in the rear in addition to the engines in front. On July 22 and 23, this section had witnessed intense rainfall of 640 mm in 48 hours, which resulted in a landslide.
