Rail safety system averts Churchgate repeat at CST

A local train exceeding speed limit was stopped by the automatic application of emergency brakes at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) on Wednesday. An Auxiliary Warning System (AWS) installed at the station triggered the emergency brakes on the Kasara-CST fast local, averting an incident similar to that in June when a local train crashed into the buffers at the Churchgate station. The train stopped at the middle of the platform and the passengers and motorman Babu Nanu were safe. “The permissible speed at CST is 10 kmph. Motormen cannot exceed this speed at the station. However, motorman Nanu drove the 10.35 Kasara fast local, which was late by 5 minutes, probably at 15kmph at CST,” said a Central Railway official. “We installed the AWS after a local train overshot at the Churchgate station. If the speed is more than 10 kmph, AWS gets activated automatically and emergency brakes are applied. Before the AWS activates the brakes, it alerts the driver through a sound. In this situation, the driver probably could not understand the sound and emergency brakes were automatically applied,” said the official. “I was in the train immediately after the motorman’s coach. I could not understand what went wrong. Suddenly, the train halted in the middle of CST and I alighted. The driver mentioned that nothing was serious,” said a commuter Bharati Dubey. Confirming the incident, Public Relations Officer, CR, AK Singh said, “Our AWS was working.” -