Alert keyman averts train accident

A railway accident was averted on Thursday when a keyman alerted the authorities upon noticing a breach on the railway track at Olavara rail level crossing at Thrikkarippur.

On finding the breach on the north-bound track around 8 a.m., the keyman alerted the nearby Payyannur railway station from where the Mangaluru-bound Malabar Express from Thiruvananthapuram had departed.

The Payyannur station master quickly switched off the signal forcing the train, already delayed for 30 minutes, to halt mid way.

Earlier instance

After being held up for nearly 30 minutes, the train left for its destination after the breach was temporarily rectified. A similar track breach was noticed at Manikoth near Kanhangad on March 19.

A passerby had then waved a shawl to alert the locopilot of the Tirunelveli-bound train from Hapa, causing its stoppage.

The incident comes at a time when the Southern Railway is replacing worn out tracks on the Shoranur-Mangaluru rail stretch leading to frequent train delays for hours.