Puri: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) Saturday suspended a loco pilot and his assistant for reportedly passing the level crossing while the gate was open.
The suspended railway staffers are loco pilot Gobinda Sahu and assistant loco pilot Umesh Kumar, said ECoR sources.
Sources said the Hatia-Puri Tapaswini Express (18451) left for Puri railway station at around 7.25am from Siddha Mahavir Railway level crossing while the signal at the level crossing was red, though the gate was open. However, no casualties or injuries were reported in the incident.
Khurda Road divisional railway manager (DRM) Braj Mohan Agrawal formed a team of four members who conducted an enquiry at the spot in the afternoon. Prima facie, negligence was found on the part of the loco pilot and his assistant.
They stopped the train for one-and-half-minutes seeing the signal in red, but started soon after for Puri station without ensuring that the gate is closed. Since it is an inter-locked gate, the red signal showed that the gate was open and there is no problem with the gate signal, said the ECoR release.
Both the staffers will remain suspended until the final report comes, ECoR officials said.
However, it is still unclear whether the gate man had the information about the train coming.
PNN