BENGALURU: It was a stroke of fortune that there were no injuries or casualties among the 1,380 passengers and two loco crew on board the Mysuru-Mayiladathurai Superfast Express, which collided with a truck on the tracks on Monday night. However, things could have easily turned tragic if the train had derailed.
The accident took place between Karmelaram and Heelalige stations after truck driver Ranganath Swamy (26) unauthorisedly entered the railway track from a closed Level Crossing (LC) gate 700 metres away, on the Doddaballapur-Huskur Road. Swamy was arrested on Tuesday afternoon by Government Railway Police, and booked under four Sections: 147 (illegal entry into railway premises) and 153 (sabotage) of Indian Railways Act, and Sections 447 (Criminal trespass) and 279 (Rash and negligent driving) of the IPC.
However, his statement that he had taken the same route in the past, and attempted it on Monday begs the question: If the LC gate (No. 128) was closed eight years ago, why was it not barricaded to prevent trespass? The public was using a Road Under Bridge. It was not in use for a few months, so the public could use LC gate 127.
“The RUB was handed over to K-RIDE recently, and it was closed for some construction work,” said Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh. A railway source told TNIE, “A standard safety procedure is followed for closed railway gates, which need to be barricaded completely with horizontal railway sleepers. Trenches have to be dug in front and behind to impede the movement of any vehicle.”
In this case, a single sleeper was erected and the driver had veered to one side and entered the railway tracks. The DRM claimed there was no negligence on the part of Railways. “It is not possible to fence 100% along the railway tracks. The ground is not level. We had barricaded it when it was closed years ago,” he said.
However, on Tuesday morning, many sleepers suddenly sprang up, the LC gate was barricaded completely and a board near the RUB said ‘Road Closed’.