On November 10, a train on the wrong track near Central Secretariat station rushed headlong towards another coming from the opposite direction. When they braked to a halt, the trains were breathing on each other merely 2-3 metres apart. A driver, two other officials suspended
WHAT could have been one of the country's worst transport disasters was averted by a whisker at Delhi's sparkling new lifeline the Metro rail.
Around 1 pm on November 10, an operator drove a train on to the wrong track between Central Secretariat and Patel Chowk Metro stations. The train, after de-boarding passengers at the terminating point, Central Secretariat, took the wrong track on its way back towards Vishwavidyalaya, said a senior official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), requesting anonymity.
And sure enough, a train was coming headlong towards it at 60-70 km per hour.
If the trains had not screeched to a halt barely 2-3 metres apart, hundreds of lives would have been lost, the Rs 30-crore-apiece trains would have been seriously mangled, the signaling system would have collapsed, and the city's eight lakh Metro commuters would have had a traumatic day returning home.
Besides, it would have taken weeks to get the tunnel, signals and electrical system back in shape.
he DMRC spokesperson refused to comment. Raj Kumar, director (operations), DMRC, did not respond to MiD DAY's calls on his cell phone and residence number and did not reply to text messages.
However, MiD DAY has learnt the erring driver, a traffic controller and a station official have been suspended. A high-level Metro rail committee is investigating the mishap-that-wasn't.
"There was a change in instructions for trains from that day," said the official who spoke asking not to be named. "There must have been a communication gap between the driver and the control room." Earlier, the trains, after de-boarding passengers, would start their return journey on the track straight from the platform.
But from that day, they were supposed to move to the siding a temporary parking space for trains before starting the return journey.
Also, on his return journey towards Vishwavidyalaya, the driver had mysteriously crossed on to the same tracks that he had taken to arrive at Central Secretariat.
What exactly transpired is likely to be clear only when the inquiry committee submits its report.
Where were the auto brakes?
One of the crucial angles the inquiry committee is investigating is why the automatic brakes of the train on the wrong track had failed.
"Probably its safety switches were off and it did not stop at a 30-metre distance from the other train on the same track, a point when the automatic brakes are supposed to come alive," said a DMRC official, requesting anonymity.
The train on the wrong track kept running till the drivers slammed the manual brakes when they were barely 10 metres away from each other.
Track record
Nov, 2008 Accident averted barely an hour after a person was run over by a train at Janakpuri station on the Indraprastha-Dwarka line.
July, 2008 A collision was avoided at Rithala station after the signals failed.
Aug, 2006 A Metro engineer died and another was hurt on the Shahdara-Rithala line when a train hit them while they were repairing track cables.
Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/nov/241108-News-Delhi-whisker-trian-mishap-Metro-disaster-Central-Secretariat-station-metro.htm
WHAT could have been one of the country's worst transport disasters was averted by a whisker at Delhi's sparkling new lifeline the Metro rail.
Around 1 pm on November 10, an operator drove a train on to the wrong track between Central Secretariat and Patel Chowk Metro stations. The train, after de-boarding passengers at the terminating point, Central Secretariat, took the wrong track on its way back towards Vishwavidyalaya, said a senior official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), requesting anonymity.
And sure enough, a train was coming headlong towards it at 60-70 km per hour.
If the trains had not screeched to a halt barely 2-3 metres apart, hundreds of lives would have been lost, the Rs 30-crore-apiece trains would have been seriously mangled, the signaling system would have collapsed, and the city's eight lakh Metro commuters would have had a traumatic day returning home.
Besides, it would have taken weeks to get the tunnel, signals and electrical system back in shape.
he DMRC spokesperson refused to comment. Raj Kumar, director (operations), DMRC, did not respond to MiD DAY's calls on his cell phone and residence number and did not reply to text messages.
However, MiD DAY has learnt the erring driver, a traffic controller and a station official have been suspended. A high-level Metro rail committee is investigating the mishap-that-wasn't.
"There was a change in instructions for trains from that day," said the official who spoke asking not to be named. "There must have been a communication gap between the driver and the control room." Earlier, the trains, after de-boarding passengers, would start their return journey on the track straight from the platform.
But from that day, they were supposed to move to the siding a temporary parking space for trains before starting the return journey.
Also, on his return journey towards Vishwavidyalaya, the driver had mysteriously crossed on to the same tracks that he had taken to arrive at Central Secretariat.
What exactly transpired is likely to be clear only when the inquiry committee submits its report.
Where were the auto brakes?
One of the crucial angles the inquiry committee is investigating is why the automatic brakes of the train on the wrong track had failed.
"Probably its safety switches were off and it did not stop at a 30-metre distance from the other train on the same track, a point when the automatic brakes are supposed to come alive," said a DMRC official, requesting anonymity.
The train on the wrong track kept running till the drivers slammed the manual brakes when they were barely 10 metres away from each other.
Track record
Nov, 2008 Accident averted barely an hour after a person was run over by a train at Janakpuri station on the Indraprastha-Dwarka line.
July, 2008 A collision was avoided at Rithala station after the signals failed.
Aug, 2006 A Metro engineer died and another was hurt on the Shahdara-Rithala line when a train hit them while they were repairing track cables.
Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/nov/241108-News-Delhi-whisker-trian-mishap-Metro-disaster-Central-Secretariat-station-metro.htm
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