An alert train driver today averted what could have been a major disaster as he stopped the Chennai bound Intercity Express some distance away from another train waiting for a signal on the same track at Oothukuli railway station.
The Intercity driver had stopped the train at around 7.15 AM waiting for a signal, which was however not functioning due to a technical snag, Southern Railway sources said.
Meanwhile, the Hyderabad-Thiruvanthapuram Sabari Express was also waiting for signal at the station.
The station master sent a note to the driver that he could proceed at a low speed of 15 kmph as the track was clear.
The alert driver noticed that a point near the track was reversed and his train moving on the same track where the Sabari Express was getting ready to move.
He immediately stopped the train, some 400 metres away from it.
The station master Mukesh Kumar and Pointsman Dileepan were suspended pending an inquiry into the incident, the sources said.
