An accident was averted today as the driver of a Sampark Kranti train applied brakes in time to slow it down before it hit an overturned jeep in Bhopal railway division, a Railway official said.
The Railways is going to felicitate train driver V P Nandwani, his assistant Sanjay Khare and gangman Dinesh Kumar for their presence of mind, it said in a statement later.
"No passenger was injured in the collision as the driver of 12651 Sampark Kranti (Madurai- Hazrat Nizamuddin) applied brakes in the nick of time after being alerted by a gangman between Barkhedi and Obedullaganj stations," Bhopal Divisional Railway Manager Shobhan Choudhuri said.
The jeep had no passengers. Its driver apparently jumped off before the train hit it, and ran away.
"The train hit the jeep, but the impact was minimal given that its speed was too slow as the emergency brakes had been applied," Choudhuri told PTI.
The jeep, being rashly driven, first hit and broke through the fencing of the railway track and then overturned, he said.
"Seeing this, the gangman ran and raised a red flag some distance away from the spot to stop the train," he said.
The driver of the Sampark Kranti on the down line applied emergency brakes. The train rolled at a speed of around 10 km before hitting the jeep, he said.
"Had the train hit the jeep at the speed it was running earlier, a big tragedy would have taken place," the DRM said.
"We will ensure that such incidents will not recur," Choudhuri added.
"We have registered an FIR against the jeep driver. I have ordered inquiry into the incident," he said.
"The jeep driver might have jumped off at the eleventh hour," Bhopal railway division public relations officer I A Siddique said.
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