Trains come face-to-face in Lucknow, collision averted

LUCKNOW: A major accident was averted when two trains came face-to-face on a track near Dilkusha Cabin area, 2km from Charbagh Railway station on Monday evening. Railway officials said the trains failed to change tracks because of a technical fault at the crossover line. A probe has been ordered.
Passengers had a narrow escape as the trains came to screeching halt at a distance of around 150 metres after drivers applied emergency brakes on seeing that the two trains were heading towards each others.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Northern Railways, Ajit Kumar Sinha, said that the incident occurred at around 6.20pm. The Balamau-Lucknow Passenger was leaving Charbagh railway station, while Faizabad-Lucknow passenger was heading towards it.
"There is a mechanism at North-South line crossover point near Dilkusha Cabin which changes the tracks of trains coming from opposite directions on the same track. However, the mechanism failed on Monday evening due to some technical fault. An inquiry has been ordered to find out why the crossover point failed", he said.
It took more than hour to clear the route by changing the tracks of the two trains, which delayed arrival of four other trains - Kolkata Express, Varuna Express, Begumpura Express, Katihar-Amritsar Express - by 1-2 hours at Charbagh, said officials.
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