At Chunar-Chopan, safety curtains fall on India’s last unmanned railway crossing

ALLAHABAD: The boom barriers fell on No. 28C, Chunar-Chopan, near Khairahi railway station, 180km from Allahabad, on Thursday evening, erasing the last unmanned level crossing on Indian Railways’s 67,300-km track.
Station superintendent Akhileshwar Nath Tiwari, who has been on edge every time a train trundled down the tracks, finally smiled. And Khairahi village erupted with joy as they watched on television Union minister Piyush Goyal making the big announcement in the budget on Friday about the last vulnerable point being fortified.
“Twenty-four trains would zip past this unmanned crossing every day and the trepidation among villagers every time they crossed the tracks is gone. It’s a proud moment for us,” said Khairahi station master Tiwari.
On Thursday, officials of the North Central Railway tested the barriers on Chunar-Chopan, after camping at the level crossing for over two weeks to meet the deadline. Ibrar Alam, who was appointed the first gateman, stood proud and resplendent in his fresh uniform. And he hopes to get a call from minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha, when arrives in Allahabad on Saturday to hold a video-conferencing with station masters and monitor the Chunar-Chopan section before making the formal announcement.
The single-track route, commissioned in 1968, connects Chopan with Muri and Khairahi. Villagers have to cross the level crossing to reach district headquarters Sonbhadra.
The 24 trains passing through the stretch include Ranchi-Delhi Swarnjayanti Express, Jammu Tawi-Muri Express, Triveni Express and Singrauli-Varanasi Intercity Express.
‘There was always a threat, and locals had to be vigilant’
Besides, two passenger trains — Chopan-Allahabad passenger train and Chunar-Baruahadih passenger — too pass by and have halts at Khairahi station.
“Although, there has been no accident at the crossing, there was always a threat and villagers had to be vigilant. We had been pressing for a manned crossing for decades and now our demand has been met. It’s such huge relief,” said Vidya Bhusan Pandey, a Khairahi resident. Chief public relations officer, NCR, Gaurav Krishna Bansal said, “History has been made at Chunar-Chopan. A daunting task has been accomplished.”
In April 2017, there were 4,943 unmanned level crossings on broad-gauge routes in the country. The number was reduced to 3,479 by April last year. By November 2018, the figure fell to 77 and by December 2018, only one unmanned level crossing was left — No. 28C.
According to railway ministry data, as many as 65 railway accidents took place due to unmanned level crossings across the country in 2009-2010, 48 accidents in 2010-2011, 54 in 2011-2012, 53 accidents in 2012-2013, 47 accidents in 2013-2014, 50 in 2014-2015, 29 accidents in 2015-2016, 20 accidents in 2016-2017, 10 accidents in 2017-2018 and 3 accidents in 2018-2019.