3 months ago
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Southern Railway has rewarded a loco aviator whose timely enactment averted a imaginable tally implicit concern involving a trackman connected duty.
According to railway sources, the incidental occurred connected December 4, 2025 erstwhile Train 12970 Jaipur-Coimbatore Super Fast Express was moving astatine afloat velocity aft crossing Katpadi.
Loco aviator K. Nadarajan saw a antheral lasting successful the mediate of the way immoderate 300 metres up not responding to the blaring horn.
It turned retired helium was a trackman (patrol man) who was connected work to guarantee information of the track. He was looking astatine a goods bid passing connected the adjacent way and could not perceive the dependable of the explicit bid accelerated approaching.
Sensing occupation the loco aviator decided to use exigency brakes. The bid was moving astatine 110 kmph. “He seemed engrossed successful the dependable and question of the goods bid passing successful the adjacent way and could not perceive the horn of the approaching train. Realising a imaginable tally implicit situation, I applied the exigency brakes and brought the bid to a halt conscionable abbreviated of the lasting man,” Mr. Nadarajan said connected Wednesday.
According to railway sources, it is the discretion of the loco aviator to use exigency brakes to debar tally implicit situations. “It depends connected the region and velocity to halt a train. Where determination is simply a anticipation to prevention a beingness by applying exigency brakes each Loco Pilot volition bash truthful without immoderate hesitation,” a railway authoritative said.
On Tuesday (February 10, 2026) Shailendra Singh, the Divisional Railway Manager of Southern Railway’s Chennai Division presented a certificate of appreciation to Mr. Nadarajan.
Southern Railway reports astir 200 tally implicit cases each twelvemonth and astir of them could not person been avoided. “When a idiosyncratic abruptly appears earlier a bid oregon the region (of exigency brakes) is little past it would not beryllium imaginable to halt the train,” the authoritative said.
As regards the information of the trackman, the railways was implementing Delivering Occupational Safety connected Track (DOST), a bundle that would springiness real-time accusation connected the question of trains successful the conception to way workers, the sources said.
