TRAIN COLLISION AVERTED Motorman taken off duty after he jumps red signal

Somit Sen TNN 

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/11/25&PageLabel=5&EntityId=Ar00501&ViewMode=HTML

Mumbai: A motorman of a Western Railway train jumped a signal between Churchgate and Marine Lines stations on Saturday. Had the auxiliary warning system (AWS) not stopped the train immediately after the violation, it would have collided with another local that was switching tracks at that time. 
    The train left Churchgate at 10.31am and within two minutes, as it crossed from platform 4 to 3, the motorman, identified as Shaikh Ansar, breached signal 831 near the Marine Lines station. The local overshot the red light, coming in the way of an oncoming local, which 
was switching from platform 2 to 4. The auxiliary warning system (AWS), installed on trains as well as tracks, stopped the first local immediately, averting a collision that could have risked the lives of commuters on both trains. 
    While passengers said the train remained stuck on the tracks for 25 minutes till the signal was rectified, a railway spokesperson claimed the incident did not affect services. 
    The motorman has been taken off duty. Railway officials said on Sunday an inquiry was “still being conducted”. “We are trying to ascertain the reason behind the violation,” a senior official said. Sources said usually the motorman and the guard are both sent for blood tests to see if they were drunk. 
    Saying there have been very few incidents of trains passing a stop signal without officals’ nod, a WR official said they had “adequate measures to rule out collisions following signal jumping”. Under AWS, a motorman is alerted if a train breaches a signal. “Even if he fails to stop the local, the train automatically comes to a halt within 100m,” he said.