Timely alert by railway lineman averts accident

A timely alert by a lineman prevented a major accident and at least three trains, including the Chennai-Rameswaram Express, were detained from moving along the Pamban rail bridge on Thursday.

A crack on the rails measuring about 100 metres on the Pamban bridge was spotted by the lineman Gladwin at around 11 a.m., when a passenger train had just crossed the bridge from Mandapam to Pamban.

On information, a team swung into work by removing the damaged rails, which had developed a severe crack. As a result, three trains suffered a delay of 55 minutes, officials said and the trains were stopped at the respective stations.

After the repair work was completed, the engineers conducted a trial and upon found it fit, the train services resumed.

It may be noted that only a month ago, a group damaged the rails after hearing the news about the death penalty slapped on five fishermen from Thangachimadam in the district by the Sri Lankan court on charges of smuggling narcotics.

Due to the damage to the rails, a number of trains bound for Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai suffered a delay of over 10 hours then. A large number of railway men worked and restored the track.

However, this time, the crack on the rails was due to technical reasons, officials who attended the repair said and appreciated the alert staff.