Alert railway officials saved the lives of two passengers at Kalyan station last week. Both the passengers were trying to alight from the moving train and slipped but were pulled out to safety by railway staff.

On Thursday Train number 02534 Down Mumbai Lucknow Pushpak Express arrived at Kalyan railway station platform number four at about 09:26 am, while departing at 09:30 RPF constables RK Yadav and Vikas Salunke noticed that a passenger was being dragged along with the said train. Both responded immediately and pulled out the said person away from the train. Later the passenger was identified as Nihal Khan, 54, a resident of Mira Road. He had come to drop his relative. When the train started, he tried to deboard the moving train and slipped.

Earlier on November 14, pointsman Shivaji Singh saved the life of a passenger who slipped into the gap between the footboard and platform while deboarding a running train at platform number six of Kalyan station.

"In the last 18 months around a dozen of such instances were witnessed at Kalyan. In most of the cases relatives of passengers were unable to deboard the train on time," said a senior officer of the railway adding that boarding/ deboarding running trains are an offence under the Railway Act.