TN: Alert railway staff detect crack in Chennai Express coach, avert tragedy

Tenkasi: A major disaster was averted when alert railway staff noticed a crack on the chassis of a coach of the Kollam Junction-Chennai Egmore Express at Tamil Nadu's Sengottai railway station, Railway officials said.
The crack was detected at the Sengottai railway station on Sunday evening. The affected coach was detached from the train, and a replacement coach was added to the train in Madurai before it commenced its journey.
According to Southern Railway, "On Sunday at 3:36 pm, a crack was noticed by Carriage and Wagon (C&W) staff in the S3 coach of train No 16102 (Chennai Egmore Express) which was entering Sengottai station in Tamil Nadu."
"The base of the coach above the wheel in Kollam to Chennai Egmore express (16102) had a crack when the train crossed Punalur Forest Division. This was noticed by railway staff which averted big tragedy," Southern Railway CPRO B Guganesan said.
The affected coach was detached from the train, and a replacement coach was added to the train in Madurai after which the train left the station at 4:40 pm.
"The damaged base S3 coach was removed in Shengottai and another coach was attached to a train at Madurai Railway Station," the official said.
The staff who detected the crack will be appreciated for vigil watch and awarded by Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai Division in today's safety meeting, Southern Railway officials added.
Earlier on June 2, in Odisha's Balasore 275 were killed and more than 1,000 injured in a mishap involving two passenger trains and a goods train.
The incident took place around 7 pm near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata. It involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Express and Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express -- and a goods train. (ANI)