The Kolkata-Radhikapur Express train that was returning to Kolkata, averted a major accident due to the alertness of the driver.
A major train accident was averted due to the alertness and swift action of the train driver in Bihar’s Katihar district on Tuesday. The Kolkata-Radhikapur Express was returning to Kolkata when the incident took place.
When the train was crossing a railway bridge on the Nagar River before the Barsoi Junction, a biker suddenly appeared on the track in its path.
Eyewitnesses testified that the youth on the bike was trying to cross the river using the rail bridge when the Kolkata-Radhikapur Express came from the opposite direction.
They recalled that when the youth saw the train approaching, he abandoned his bike on the railway tracks and jumped into the river to save his life.
The driver of the train immediately applied the emergency brakes. The train, however, hit the bike which came under the wheels of the trains. The train dragged the bike for some distance before it stopped in the middle of the bridge.
“Since the driver of the express applied the emergency brake, the train lost speed which led it to slow down by the time it hit the bike. Had the train been moving at full speed there were chances that the train could have got derailed from the tracks and fallen into the river,” said a railway official.
“The bike was removed from the wheel of the train after which it was allowed to move towards the Barsoi Junction,” he added.