A head-on collision between two trains was averted near Bargarh railway station on Saturday. The incident happened around 4.30 pm when the driver of the Bhubaneswar Intercity Express, which had just left Bargarh, realized that a train was coming on the same track where he present. He alerted the Bargarh railway station authorities, who asked him to apply reverse gear and bring the train back to the station.
Railway officials, however, played down the incident. Divisional railway manager (Sambalpur) Ashok Gupta said the express train had covered about two km when the driver was asked to return back to Bargarh station. He said the Jharsuguda-Titlagarh passenger train on the same track was not approaching the express train but had stopped due to engine failure.
“We stopped the passenger train on the outer signal. The express train, after covering two km from Bargarh, was asked to return. It is an operational matter and it happens. There couldn’t have been any head-on collision”, said Gupta. He said the express train was delayed by an hour.
A passenger of the express train Umashanka Jenamani, who was going to Bhubaneswar, said passengers panicked after the train moved in the reverse direction. “Initially, we thought the track had some problems. But later we were told it went in the reverse direction to avoid a head-on collision”, he said.
