Youth saves train from track crack

Bappa Biswas points out the crack in the tracks in Hooghly. July 23: A youth waved red rags and alerted the driver of an express train about a six-inch crack on the tracks in Hooghly, averting a possible accident. The Howrah-bound Viswabharati Express stopped after the engine and two bogies passed over the crack, spotted 200 metres from Adisaptagram station in the Bandel-Burdwan section. The train was stranded for about an hour from 8.50am as railway officials repaired the tracks. The Mayurakshi Express and several local trains were also held up, inconveniencing office-bound passengers. Bappa Biswas, a college student who lives in a shanty near the tracks, said he heard the sound of metal cracking when a local train passed over the tracks at 8.40am. “I came out and noticed a crack on the tracks. One portion of the rail had slipped six inches below the other. Three track clips had also come off,” Biswas said. “I was about to walk towards the station when I noticed that the signal had turned yellow. After a few minutes, I saw the Viswabharati Express approaching. I noticed three red rags lying beside the tracks. I picked them up and started waving at the train,” he said. Although the driver noticed Biswas, he could stop the train only after the engine and two bogies had passed over the crack. Railway personnel arrived after some time and mended the cracks as the express stood there. The train left for Howrah around 9.45am. Senior railway officials said the crack had developed because of “rapid changes in weather conditions”. “Preliminary investigation does not hint at a sabotage. Such cracks are common,” said Parthasarathi Mondal, the divisional railway manager of Howrah, Eastern Railway. Another railway official said the crack would not have caused derailment but had it gone unnoticed, it could have widened with more trains passing over it. Another crack was also detected on the tracks between Dumdum Junction and Belghoria station in the Sealdah Main section around 7.15am. The motorman of a Barrackpore-bound local train noticed it. “Since the crack had developed on the tracks taken by trains leaving Sealdah and the morning rush is towards Sealdah, no trains were delayed,” said a senior Eastern Railway official. “We diverted all trains leaving Sealdah to the adjacent tracks,” he added. The crack was repaired around 8.20am.