Duronto Express derailment: Men whose minds were on track

The Ministry of Railways felicitated the brave train driver of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express Virendra Singh, whose presence of mind was responsible for averting a big accident

(From left) Assistant loco pilot Abhay Kumar Pal and locomotive pilot Virendra Singh of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express with Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani

The Ministry of Railways on Saturday morning felicitated the brave train driver of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express Virendra Singh, whose presence of mind was responsible for averting a big accident early on Tuesday morning. This was reported by mid-day in its afternoon edition dated August 29.

Locomotive pilot Virendra Singh and Assistant loco pilot Abhay Kumar Pal were felicitated by the newly appointed Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani for exemplary dedication to duty and display of alertness and presence of mind, which resulted in them saving the lives of hundreds of passengers by controlling the speed of the train. While Singh was rewarded '10,000, Pal was given a sum of '5,000 and a citation.

Also read: Motorman prevents major Duronto tragedy

"While working on train No 12290 UP Nagpur-Mumbai CST Duronto Express, Singh observed a huge landslide on the tracks in the front in the Asangaon-Vasind section.

Despite the sighting distance being less due to a sharp curvature and heavy rain on approach, they immediately applied the emergency brakes. Due to this quick response, the impact of the locomotive hitting the mud was considerably reduced," a senior official said.

"Though the incidence resulted in derailment of locomotive and nine coaches, it did not result in injury to any passengers as the speed was considerably low. In spite of them being so closely involved, they retained their composure and alerted the control room about the gravity of the situation, which led to immediate switching off of overhead power supply on both the lines, thereby avoiding a disaster," he added.

10K
The cash prize given to Virendra Singh

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