Video: Train accident foiled in Gujarat after fish plates, bolts found on track

According to the police, some unidentified persons allegedly tampered with a railway track by removing fish plates and loosening several bolts in an attempt to derail trains in Surat district.

In Short

• Train operations briefly halted after fish plates, bolts found on track in Surat
• Railway official noticed suspicious items on track
• Gujarat Police launches porobe into the incident

The Surat Police has launched an investigation after some unidentified people allegedly tampered with a railway track by removing fish plates and loosening several bolts in an attempt to derail trains on Saturday.

According to the police, the sabotage attempt came to light before a train could pass through the affected track between Surat's Kosamba and Kim railway stations.

The unidentified people removed two fish plates that joined the ends of two rails on the railway track and placed them on the parallel track and also loosened some 40-50 bolts that hinged the railway track with the concrete sleepers, police said.

The railway officials detected the damaged railway track and alerted the higher authorities, following which the train operations were briefly halted between Kosamba and Kim railway stations.

Speaking about the incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police RR Sarvaiya said," A lineman inspecting the track discovered the tampering around 5.30 am and alerted the railway administration.

"Railway engineers and other staff reached the site and repaired the line, and the movement of trains resumed," he added.

Sarvaiya added the railway and local police have launched a probe, and a case is being registered.

Earlier this month, a major accident was averted after Kalindi Express, travelling from Prayagraj to Bhiwani in Haryana, hit an LPG cylinder placed on a stretch of railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district.

The train's locomotive pilot spotted the LPG cylinder and other suspicious items on the tracks, after which he applied the brakes. However, the train failed to stop in time and ended up hitting the cylinder before coming to a halt.

A probe was launched into the incident by the Kanpur Police and National Investigative Agency (NIA)