Title - Railway guard spots crack on track, averts possible disaster

Chennai: A possible disaster was averted when a railway guard spotted a crack on the loop track near Arakkonam station, 70km from Chennai, on Thursday. Thanks to his warning, the Trivandrum-Chennai Express train, which was hardly a kilometre away from thespot,washalted atMosur,the nearest railway station. The crack was about seven incheswide,officialssaid.
    Around 6.40am, Rahamathualla, a guard on the Mysore-Chennai Shatabdi Express, spottedthecrack and alertedstation master S Ethirajulu of Arakkonam. Soon, officials in other stations and the Southern Railway headquarters in Chennai were informed and the Government Railway Police and the RailwayProtection Forcewere alerted.
    Many trains, inlcuding Yelagiri Express, Barauni Express, Tirupati-Chennai passenger and atleastsix suburban trains,werestopped at Mosur railway station. A team of railway staff, including engineers and gangmen, reached the spot and the fractured portion was welded into place. Train services resumed around 9.45am.
    Engineers later said a seven-inch crack could cause a derailment. Expansion of cracks is common during intermittent hot andcoldweather ,they said.
    Railwayofficialssaidthecrackcouldhave widened under pressure. Once train services resumed on the sector, motormen were asked to go at a speed of less than 30kmph between Arakkonam and Tiruvalamkadu stations to help the fractured portion settle. Some also wonderedhowchecksby staff had missedthe crack. “Thisisthefirsttimesuch a widecrack has been spotted on the Arakkonam sector. Had the guard not spotted it, it could have been a disaster,” said a railwayofficial.
    In February, a gangman noticed a fracture on the track between Maraimalai Nagar and Singaperumal Koil stations and, stopped a Chennai-bound express train minutes before it was to cross the stretch. In March 2011, a Class5student noticed a fractureon thetrack between Padalam andKarunkuzhalistations near Madurantakam in Kancheepuram and alertedofficials.