Woman and her twin children miraculously escaped from running train in Chennai

As the woman was crossing the railway track, her scooter ceased and she took to heels to manage to escape and save her two children. The scooter was crushed by the train.
Representative image of Korukkupet Railway gate | EXPRESS
Representative image of Korukkupet Railway gate | EXPRESS

CHENNAI: The 12-year-delay in construction of subway at Korukkupet railway station has been putting motorists in risk every day. This was proved right on Tuesday when a woman and her twin children narrowly escaped from being mowed by a running train.

Sumathi, a resident of Korukkupet, was taking her two children school around 9 am when crossing the railway gates, like most motorists in hurry do, and decided to cross the tracks. "As it was getting late for the school and the railway gate was closed at Korukkupet, she noticed people crossing the railway track. She along with her children tried crossing the track and her vehicle ceased. The passersby who saw the train coming raised an alarm and the woman immediately picked her children and ran towards the railway gate," said a police officer.

The MEMU fast train plying from Nellore to Chennai ran over the vehicle and was later stopped by the local pilot. The incident also disturbed train movement in the Gummidipundi to Chennai section for 30
minutes.

In a video recorded by the public, the woman was seen saying that the bike stopped and she did not know what to do and fearing of getting hit by the train, she left the bike and ran. About 170 trains including suburban, express and goods trains pass through the Korukkupet junction in Chennai - Gummidipundi section, which is one of the most congested routes in India.

According to official records, about 1.5 lakh vehicles cross the level crossing gate in Korukkupet junction in a day, due to which junction witnesses huge vehicular pile on both sides of the gates during peak hours.

In 2007, the Chennai Corporation proposed to build a vehicular subway connecting the Ennore High Road with Kannan Street in Korukkupet. However, the proposal went into cold storage after residents approached the Madras high court against land acquisition.

Later, though railways and Chennai Corporation agreed to build the vehicular subway at 50-50 cost-sharing basis, the works failed to take off owing to fund crunch. “The design for the road underbridge has been finalised. The works for constructing road under bridge will commence soon,” said a senior railway official.

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