31 August,2023 10:48 PM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Screengrab from video
Two local trains had a near-miss and would have had a head-on collision at Mumbai's biggest rail terminus - CSMT, on Thursday afternoon. Sources said that quick-thinking of the motorman saved the day.
At around 3:20 pm, when a Thane-bound train was leaving the platform at CSMT, a Kalyan-CSMT train was approaching the same platform as it had skipped a red signal. The Auxiliary Warning System (AWS) mechanism of the train stopped the approaching train in its tracks and averted a major tragedy. The AWS device, through a circuit of magnets and sensors, makes sure that the train comes to halts immediately on violating the red signal.
The Central Railway officials stated that the Kalyan-CSMT train had to be reversed and taken back to the car shed for examination. Commuters of the stranded train had to walk on tracks to reach CSMT station. Railway sources said that the incorrect positioning of a signal post might have led to the incident.
CR officially only updated that slow local trains between Byculla to CSMT had been running 10-15 minutes late due to bunching and that there was some signaling issue.
Commuter associations blasted railway officials saying if a big terminus like Mumbai CSMT is not a failsafe, one can imagine the management of Central Railway.
