Youth tries to drive train, apprehended on time

Hundreds of passengers aboard the Lucknow-Jhansi Intercity  Express were shocked when they heard a whistle signalling that the train was about to  depart around 40 minutes  ahead of its scheduled  time from Lucknow Junction railway station, even though the signal was still red.

The incident occurred  on Friday evening. The train, however, did not move. A few minutes later, passengers saw a youth dressed as a  loco pilot being escorted by a team of police personnel.

It later turned out that the youth, identified as 25-year old Rishabh Kumar, a resident of Bhunna village in Kannauj district, had managed to enter the empty engine and tried to start the train.

"I always wanted to drive a train," Kumar, who  is pursuing a certificate course from an Industrial Training Institute in Kanpur, was quoted as  telling police.

The police said that Kumar often travelled between Kanpur and Lucknow, which is 90 km apart, on the same train. "He would often put on the uniform of the loco pilot and hold a walkie-talkie in his hand," said a senior police officer here on Saturday.

Sources said that the railway police reached the engine just in time and prevented Kumar from driving the train. "Anything could have happened had the train started," the officer said.