Central Railway (CR) on Friday ordered a high-level inquiry after two local trains narrowly avoided a head-on collision at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) the previous afternoon, even as it blacked out all information about the matter. The incident occurred after the motorman of the train entering the station passed a danger signal, triggering the train’s safety mechanism to hit the brakes.

Around 3.20 pm, when a Thane-bound train was departing from a platform at CSMT, a Kalyan-CSMT train was approaching the same platform as it had skipped a red signal. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD) in railway terms, which is classified as an indicative accident, since it has the potential of getting converted into a consequential accident like a collision or derailment, resulting in loss of lives,” a source said.