One killed as container tumbles at railway station

Around 9.20 am, the goods train near Ambattur station rolled back, strayed close to the main line and hit the rail barricade near the railway weighing bridge. A container atop the train tumbled on impact and crushed a septuagenarian standing along level crossing No 6 on the north side of the station. 

The deceased, identified at S Mani (70) of Indira Nagar in Ambattur, died on the spot. RPF, in its preliminary investigation, described the case as a rough shunting. Railway sources admitted that the train had hit the rail barricade on the line harder than usual, triggering the fall of the container. However, it is yet to be known whether the loco pilot had placed skid blocks to prevent the roll back or if the blocks had slipped off the track due to shoddy placement. 

In another incident at Egmore station, seven city bound express trains were delayed after a roughly shunted locomotive rammed into empty rake of Uzhavan Express which was being moved from the station to the yard around 5am Tuesday. Sources said the locomotive and empty rake of Uzhavan Express were moving on separate lines. 

The locomotive moved too close to the track intersection point and hit the empty rake of Uzhavan express, eight rakes of which had already crossed the intersection point. A wheel of a sleeper coach of the express train rake derailed, blocking signals of arriving trains. The sleeper coach of the express train and front portion of the locomotive were damaged too. Seven arriving express trains were delayed for an hour from 5.15am owing to signal block and resultant delay in receiving them, a senior SR official told DT Next.