Guard injured after falling off moving train as door handle breaks while showing signal

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) A guard was grievously injured after he fell off a moving train as the handle of his coach's door broke while exchanging an "all right" signal with another train coming from the opposite direction in Vijayawada Division, officials said on Tuesday.

According to Nusrat Mandrupkar, the public relations officer (PRO) of Vijayawada Division in the South Central Railway, the incident occurred on July 7 when the Howrah SF Express (train number 12864) was between Rajahmundry and Samalkot.

"The joints of the handle had possibly worn out due to which it broke when train manager Y Durga Prasad leaned out of the door to show the green flag to the other train, a safety norm to convey to the other train that everything is alright on the route behind," she said.

The crew onboard Howrah SF Express realised Prasad's absence after the train reached Samalkot station and another train's crew complained to officials that the guard did not exchange the "all right" signal with them.

"Prasad also didn't respond to messages on walkie-talkie. Following this, a search was launched and he was found lying unconscious along the rail tracks," Mandrupkar said.

According to the Railways, the guard was immediately taken to a hospital and currently, he is on ventilator support.

"The senior divisional operation manager and the additional divisional railway manager visited the hospital to ensure that Prasad is getting proper treatment. His condition is being constantly monitored," Mandrupkar said.

Railway officials said this incident should be an eye-opener for train guards, also known as train managers, that they should not lean out of the coach to exchange signals.

"The signals can be exchanged by standing at the coach door and waving the green flag during the day or the green light at night. Leaning out of the coach is dangerous as anything can happen," a senior railway official said.

"The Railways educate passengers that they should not lean out of moving train as frequent jerking can cause imbalance and a person can off the train," he said. PTI JP JP NSD NSD