In a bizarre incident, a train almost left Koraput station in Odisha leaving the guard and the travelling ticket examiner (TTE).
The engine driver was told on a walkie-talkie about the incident and he stopped the train just as it was about completely pull out of the platform, forcing the guard and the TTE to walk to the end of the platform and board the train.
Railway guards and engine drivers communicate on walkie-talkies. The guard and the TTE realised the train had almost left without them.
Immediately, the guard spoke to the driver and the train was stopped on time. The guard and the TTE walked on the platform till their coach, which by now had moved ahead on the platform. The incident took place at Koraput station under the East Coast Railway.
Railway sources said the train never left the station without the guard and the TTE.
“A few people booked tickets from Koraput to Jagdalpur in a vistadome coach. They complained about the cleanliness of the vistadome coaches. There was also no on-board housekeeping staff as it was the first run of this service,” a railway source said.
“The passengers who boarded at Koraput pulled the chain. The on-board TTE and the guard rushed to the coach to reset the chain. Meanwhile, the engine driver started the train and was stopped later at the end of the platform (100 metres),” the source said.
