The alertness of drivers averted a major train accident when two sub-urban trains came on the same track at Bidhannagar Road Station on Friday afternoon.
Around 1.40 pm on Friday a Sealdah-bound Naihati local train and down Hasnabad local came on the same track. Fortunately, the drivers applied the emergency brakes and averted any major mishap.
As both the trains were entering the platforms, their speed was relatively slow which made it easier for the drivers to stop the trains by applying emergency brakes at a distance of around 100 metre from each other.
According to eye-witnesses, when they found both the trains approaching each
other on the same track, people waiting on platforms started shouting apprehending a collision.
The chief security officer sought a detailed report in connection with the incident and necessary steps will be taken to find out the reason.
It may be recalled that a similar incident had taken place at Serampore station in Hooghly on December 10 last year. An up Tarakeswar local was waiting at platform number 4 to leave Serampore station when a Howrah-Burdwan galloping local came on the same track from the opposite direction. The accident was averted due to the alertness of the drivers.
As it happened in Bidhannagar on Friday, drivers of both the trains at Serampore too applied emergency brakes and stopped the trains.
Commuters demanded proper steps to avoid repetition of such incidents which could lead to accidents claiming hundreds of lives.