Mumbai: Motorman praised for presence of mind during rail fracture

“I was driving the Dadar-Kalyan fast local when I heard an unusual sound from the tracks between Matunga and Dadar stations and decided to stop the local. Such a sound comes only when there is a gap somewhere on the track. Upon getting down, I found there was a rail fracture and a few pieces of the tracks were broken,” said Babu.

Amid the evening peak hour, Babu realised that even a halt of a few minutes could cost the punctuality of services but immediate relay of information to the official authorities was more important. “I immediately informed the control room in Kurla and advised the station manager at Matunga station to come and have a look. I waited for ten minutes for the manager to reach the spot after which I was advised to run the train through a diverted line. Other trains after me also came through that line till the crack was repaired,” Babu added.

Working as a motorman since ten years, Babu has had to face a similar problem once before. “Our job calls for being alert where our each sense must remain active when on duty. Also, thanks to my years of experience, further problems were averted,” he said.

“The fracture was big enough to require immediate attention,” he claimed. “Maybe, the train I was in could have gone ahead smoothly but chances exist that the rakes running behind me could have been derailed, if it was not looked into,” he added. A few female commuters tied rakhi on Babu. What irks him, he says is the impatience of commuters on the suburban line of the city.

“The suburban tracks of Mumbai are very congested and sometimes when such problems occur, commuters start deboarding trains and start walking on the tracks. Many a time, they even curse us (motormen) and accuse us of stopping the trains on purpose. They must understand that not one reason exists to halt the train and caution and commuters’ safety comes before everything,” Babu added.

Also, Central Railway will be running a track monitoring special on Trans-Harbour and on Harbour lines for monitoring of tracks on August 31 and September 1.

neha.kulkarni@expressindia.com