Motorman halts train to avert tragedy in Mumbai

MUMBAI: At least five persons were injured on Tuesday morning after a part of the pedestrian pathway of Gokhale Bridge, a road overbridge (ROB) in Andheri (East), collapsed amid rains, bringing train services of the Western Railway to a halt for several hours.  The bridge collapsed around 7.20 am with the debris crashing down upon the tracks below. Eyewitnesses say that a loud noise erupted due to the collapse after which a few persons were seen trapped in the debris. The bridge collapsed near platform 8 at the station from where long distance trains pass regularly. 

The injured, four of them were on the FOB, were rushed to Cooper Hospital, of which two have been admitted to the ICU and four have sustained fractures. The FOB connected platforms 8 and 9 where Andheri-bound local trains and long-distance trains terminate. The WR ran Virar-Goregaon and Churchgate-Bandra locals and later the Andheri-CSMT services were restored around 2.15 pm. The collapse affected all six overhead wires, disrupting the Western as well as Harbour line services from Goregaon to Bandra. Meanwhile, an alert motorman averted a major tragedy when he applied emergency brakes right in time, stopping his train just a few metres away from the spot where the overbridge had collapsed.

The motorman (driver), Chandrashekhar B. Sawant, who was steering the Churchgate-bound 7.06 am suburban train from Borivli, saw a portion of the road over bridge falling as he was nearing the Andheri station. The road overbridge, built in 1971, collapsed near the eastern side of the Andheri railway station and part of it fell on rail tracks. “I immediately applied emergency brakes and the train stopped a few metres from the spot where the bridge collapsed,” Sawant told reporters.  “The collapse was accompanied by a big thud sound of the falling debris,” he said.