An accident and a major railway disruption was averted after a train coming from Kasara moving towards CST in Mumbai hit a scooter at the level crossing gate number 57 between Titwala and Khadavali stations.
According to Central Railway officials, it is not clear how the scooter made its way onto the tracks since the LC gate barrier was down, as is the case when a train is passing by. The preliminary report made by the guard of the N18 trains, the one that hit the scooter, speaks of no injury to the scooter-rider, said CR officials. The incident happened at around 2:30 pm on Thursday, they said.
"It is a very dangerous incident as it could have derailed the train, inured people inside and have disrupted the schedule. It is unfortunate that despite repeated reminders and even RPF action, some people don't desist and try to test their luck against a train. Hundreds of people inside the train would have had to suffer without any fault of theirs," said a CR official.
The Indian Railways has for long suffered due to the near-miss incidents brought about by vehicle drivers at various level crossings across the country. The railways has 10,440 unmanned level crossings of which the railways has decided to eliminate 2867 crossings by constructing road overbridges or subways.
"Funds for elimination of level crossings come from Central Road Fund (CRF) as a percentage of cess collected on Petrol and Diesel by Ministry of Finance. The Average Annual Allocation to Railways from Central Road Fund is approximately Rs. 1,100 crore against throw forward (cost of completing a project in the future) of Rs. 31,700 crore. In view of this, no target to close level crossings has been fixed for 2016-17 and 2017-18. This is a worry," said an official.
