Train driver suspended for driving a train in the opposite direction without following safety protocol

The train driver of the Tiruchendur-Palakkad express train was suspended for allegedly failing to stop the train at a railway station and returning it to the station in the reverse direction without following the usual safety protocol.

Railway sources said that train number 16732 Tiruchendur – Palakkad Express, which would normally halt at Kachinavilai railway station near Nazareth in Thoothukudi district, did not halt at the station at 12.45 pm on Monday.

While passengers waiting at Kachinaavilai Station tried to alert the train driver by shouting, commuters who had to get off at that station pulled the alarm chain after the train had moved about 1.50 km from the station.

After the train driver Aathinathan brought the train back to Kachinavilai station in the opposite direction, the passengers alighted and boarded the train.

“If a train has to run in reverse direction back to the station, normal safety procedures have to be followed. Only when proper monitoring system is in place at the rear to check people or vehicles crossing level crossings (if any) and movement of people across the tracks, the train will be allowed to run in reverse direction. Since this procedure was not followed in this particular incident, action (suspension) has been taken against the train driver,” the sources said.

A senior official who did not want to be quoted said an investigation had been ordered.