Gas-tanker hits railway tracks suffering tire burst; major accident averted
An empty gas truck veered off from the Mumbai-Nashik National Highway after suffering a tire burst and came on the parallel railway tracks on Monday evening, forcing the suspension of traffic on the Kasara-Kalyan section which resulted in holding up of some long-distance and suburban trains for almost two hours, officials said. The incident occurred between Asangaon and Atgaon stations at around 7:30 pm.
A major tragedy was averted: Officials
A major tragedy was averted thanks to alertness shown by track maintainer Dilip Wagh who reported the incident to the control room and the traffic was immediately stopped, said officials. Fortunately, no train was passing when the incident occurred near Atgaon station, which is around 95km from Mumbai. They also said that trains on both Up and Down tracks were just a station behind.
Traffic was suspended in the northeast section of railway line
"A gas tanker truck from the road entered on the tracks between Atgaon-Asangaon section. For safety reasons the Up and Down lines in the northeast section have been suspended for traffic from 7:40 pm onwards (sic)," said Shivaji Sutar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway.
Tanker removed from tracks with the help of cranes
Sutar said, "The help of the Maharashtra Disaster Control was sought for removal of the gas tanker from the tracks, apart from sending railway's relief cranes and vehicles to the spot. Road cranes and other relief trains/vehicles have been moved to clear the section as soon as possible." The tanker was removed from the tracks with the help of cranes.
Over half a dozen long-distance trains were detained
"Down line traffic (trains going towards Kasara side) resumed at 9:10 pm and Up line at 9:30 pm," Sutar said, adding over half a dozen long-distance trains and some suburban locals were detained owing to the incident.
Probe will be conducted to ascertain cause of the incident
According to railway officials, the gas tanker was empty and hence they did not face much difficulty in removing it from the tracks. "Due to the tire burst, the tanker veered off from the Mumbai-Nashik highway and came on the railway tracks," said a Central Railway official. Officials said the police will investigate the incident in order to ascertain the cause of the incident.
The railway line does not have fencing on the track
The Times of India reported that the last local which passed toward Kasara was at 6:50 PM, whereas Pushpak Express crossed the railway line in the CSMT direction at 7:10 pm. Moreover, the railway line does not have fencing on either side of the track.
