Pune: Some passengers of Deccan Queen who were looking out of the window and could see the train track ahead of them, panicked for a brief moment on Friday morning as they saw a train on the same track as their own. They got a mistaken impression that the other train - a Pune-Lonavala local- was heading in the opposite direction and may collide with the Queen. Obviously, nothing was the sort happened, as the train which was heading towards Lonavala and had stopped due to a technical issue. Queen then halted 60-80 metres before the halted local.
The incident happened at about 8 am. Officials said that the trains had to be halted as the track between Malwali and Lonavala was fractured and was being repaired.
"Deccan Queen departed from Pune Station at 7.20 am and half an hour prior the Pune-Lonavala local had departed. The local was stopped at Malawali station after the fracture in the train track was discovered. It's possible that some passengers may have mistakenly thought that the trains were in moving in opposite direction on the same track as the local had an engine on the hind side too.
However, there are automatic signals between Pune and Lonavala and if the tracks are not clear, the signals turn red immediately.
Railway Passenger's Pravasi Group President Harsha Shah said, "The railway has installed automatic signals between Pune and Lonavala station. The local has two engines on both the sides and it create confusion among passengers. There was no cause for worry."
