On Sunday morning, Mumbai’s Churchgate station witnessed a horrific spectacle that few could have imagined on the city’s heavily used suburban railway network: a south-bound local train overshot the dead-end of the terminus and crashed into the platform. Fortunately, the train was empty and the platform was not too busy. Though four or five people were injured in the accident, including the motorman and his guard, there were no casualties. Had this been an weekday, the accident could have caused a major tragedy at the station that handles more than five lakh passengers most weekdays.
Local train at Mumbai’s Churchgate hits buffer:
The incident took place at around 11.20 A.M when the speeding local train coming from Bhayandar crashed at the dead end and made the first coach climb on to the platform of south-end. Sources revealed that the motorman had failed to apply the brakes on time. After the accident, the wheels of the first coach were seen hanging in the air, ripping apart all the technical equipment from its lower part. Railway authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, although a brake failure is one of the suspected reasons.
Eye witnesses claimed that as soon as the train hit the buffer, the train got decoupled and jumped the front of the platform. However, there are no report on injuries. The buffer is a safety device to stop trains and absorb the shock in case a train overshoots. A panel will be set up for a probe.
Watch Video: Mumbai train jumps onto platform at Churchgate
It is a serious lapse and the motorman L Tiwari and the guard of the train have been undergoing medical examination. A railway official present at the site said that the rakes if Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL) make. One coach got damaged and the OHE too got snapped because of the accident.
Five injured as Mumbai suburban train rams buffer:
A senior railway official said, “The train usually enters into the platform at speed of 30 kmph. We have to examine whether the train was over-speeding or if the motorman failed to apply the brakes at the right moment.”
A similar freak accident had taken place at CST – Mumbai’s Central Railway terminus, in 2011, when a crowded train rammed into the iron buffering panels of the dead-end. The shock of the jolt had injured five women commuters, but today’s Churchgate accident is possibly the first time that a local train has actually been jolted on to the elevated platform.