india

Updated: Sep 24, 2019 12:32 IST

The passengers of two trains – the Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express and Magadh Express – had a miraculous escape on Tuesday when the driver of the second train saw a major fracture in the rail tracks in the nick of time and applied emergency brakes.

The Islampur-Delhi Magadh Express, which was running a few hours late on Tuesday morning, was approaching the Bharthana station in Kanpur section at 7.30 am when the driver noticed the 14-inch fracture in the tracks. He applied the emergency brakes and immediately informed the main control room in Tundla. The authorities instantly got all the trains approaching after the Magadh express stopped, among them were the Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani and Kanpur Shatabdi train.

A team of experts was rushed to the spot and within two hours the fracture on the tracks was temporarily fixed. Though the traffic was restored after two hours via a loop line , the passage was slow as the speed limit of 20 km was fixed. Due to this the Delhi bound Rajdhani trains and other important long distance trains were stranded at different stations.

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In February this year, seven passengers of Delhi-bound 12487 Jogbani-Anand Vihar Seemanchal Express died when the train jumped tracks due to fracture in the line.

Indian Railways, the world’s fourth-largest rail network, which carries 23 million people daily, has seen a lot of wear and tear over the years, as the bulk of the network was laid during the British time.

The Railways employs gangmen (track maintainers) whose job is to constantly check tracks and ensure they are fit for trains to pass. There are about 200,000 gangmen, many of whom also man gates at rail crossings besides patrolling tracks.

In April, these maintainers were told to wear GPS devices during duty hours in Bhopal section so that their movement could be traced through a mobile application. The move was also aimed at preventing seniors from asking track staff to do odd jobs.