Photo for representational purposes only.
Timely action by an alert railway official, who shut down the power supply to the overhead equipment (OHE) in a split second, prevented a speeding express train from ramming into another train that was moving slowly ahead between Kovilpatti and Kadambur railway stations on Tuesday (June 24, 2025) night.
The second train that was cleared for running at 110 kmph stopped just 5 km ahead of the other train on the same track and within the same signal block section, railway officials said.
Initial reports suggested that bungling in following standard safety procedures — specifically in issuing the line-clear ticket, which is mandatory for allowing a train to proceed in the event of a signal failure — by the Kovilpatti Station Master had led to the incident.
An inquiry by railway officials of various departments is under way into the safety breach. According to railway sources, the loco pilot of Train No. 06322 Dindigul-Nagercoil special train had noticed at 6.42 p.m. on Tuesday that the intermediate block signal (IBS) at Kumarapuram, between Kovilpatti and Kadambur railway stations, had failed. He had tried to reach the Station Master of Kovilpatti through the signal post (railway) telephone. However, he could not communicate with him.
Loco pilot followed safety protocol
Following the safety protocol during a signal failure in the mid-section, the loco pilot waited for more than the mandatory five minutes before moving the train at 7.02 p.m.
“He operated the train at 8 kmph speed, which is the stipulated speed at night on a track where the signal has failed. At this speed, he would be able to stop the train immediately in the event of the train facing any unforeseen obstruction on the track,” a railway source said.
Meanwhile, Train No. 16368 Varanasi to Kanniyakumari Express had arrived at Kovilpatti at 7.06 p.m. Railway sources said that consequent to the IBS failure, the Varanasi express train was allowed to move out of Kovilpatti railway station with a line-clear ticket and to proceed towards Kadambur railway station at the usual speed of 110 kmph. The manual go-ahead was given much before the other train could reach Kadambur.
‘Station Masters worked on assumption’
It seems the Station Masters on both ends were under the assumption that the Nagercoil-bound train was running at the normal sectional speed of 110 kmph and hence, they anticipated it to reach Kadambur railway station at any moment, the source said.
They had failed to assess the risk factor due to the Nagercoil-bound train running at 8 kmph. It would take at least 90 minutes for the train to cross 12 km from the IBS to reach Kadambur railway station.
The line-clear ticket is an authority issued by the Station Master, in consultation with the other Station Master of the section, to allow a train to proceed on the track during signal failures.
“It also assures the loco pilot that the section ahead is free of any vehicle (train),” the source explained. However, in this case, despite the block section of Kovilpatti-Kadambur not being free of train movement, the second train was allowed to pass through.
Timely intervention
Even as the train was fast-approaching Kadambur railway station, the section controller at Madurai Divisional Office noticed two trains proceeding in close proximity on the same block section. He immediately alerted the officials in Traction Distribution and asked them to shut down power in the OHE to stop the Varanasi train and thus, averted the possible collision of the two express trains. The trains were separated by a distance of only 5 km, an official said.
Another official said that the Station Master, Kovilpatti, had asked the loco pilot to check whether a level-crossing gate near the IBS was in closed position before proceeding further. As the loco pilot was about to slow down the train to stop it at the IBS, the power was shut down, curtailing its movement.
Meanwhile, the signal was set right around 9.20 p.m. Four express trains suffered detention in the range of over one to over three hours. Investigation revealed that burning of signal cables had led to the IBS failure.
Published – June 28, 2025 12:54 pm IST