Kerala train derailment: Babu Varghese, the hero saves the day

Karukutty (Angamaly): Babu Varghese, the Station Superintendent of Karukutty, is now qualified to teach us the value of seconds. Had he been late by a few more minutes in warning the locopilot and guard about the incoming Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram Superfast Express, it could have resulted in a major disaster. Mr Varghese, first gave a signal to the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore, stationed at Angamaly, to pass through the Karukutty station at 2 am.

Meanwhile, the Chennai- Thiruvananthapuram Superfast had left from Chalakudy and was proceeding in the opposite direction. “The Mangalore Express was yet to pass through even after 10 minutes and suddenly I got a message on my walkie-talkie about it getting derailed. I rushed to the spot and  saw that the signal and a part of the coach had infringed into the downline through which  the Chennai Superfast was supposed to pass within a few minutes,” the native of Peringulam,  Thiruvananthapuram, recalled.

Though it was raining heavily, Mr Varghese ran back and contacted the locopilot of the Superfast train over walkie-talkie. "There was an intermediate Block Signal between Karukutty and Chalakudy stations — the last point of signal before the Chennai Superfast enters into the accident area. Just three minutes remained for the train to pass the signal point then. It was halted there,” he recalled, heaving a sigh of relief. When asked what passed through his mind at the critical juncture, Mr Varghese said he just followed the Standard Operation Procedure, i.e., to reach the accident site and personally inspect the scenario before sending signals and messages accordingly.

Mr Varghese, who was previously the Station Master of Ollur near Thrissur, had taken over the current post only three months back. It was his first such experience in his career spanning over two decades. “I believe the almighty saved us all. No one suffered any injury in spite of a mishap of this magnitude,” Mr Varghese, who now has two more years of service before retirement, noted. Even top railway officials admit that the train was travelling at a speed of 70 kmph and despite the derailment, it didn’t turn turtle or capsize. “Usually in such cases the coaches capsize and fall over one another before overturning. Maybe the coaches are of excellent quality and the coach separators sustained the collision impact,” a senior officer said.