Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh), Aug 30 (IANS): Timely intervention by an alert plumber helped in averting a major train accident in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad district.

The incident happened on Saturday. Chandrasen Saini, a plumber, was on his way to relieve himself when he spotted a crack on the railway track, minutes before the Amritsar-Howrah parcel train, with two military compartments attached, was scheduled to cross the track.

"I started waving a red cloth and the loco pilot managed to apply the brakes in time," Saini who lives in Katghar said.

The military compartments had a few Army personnel on board.

The parcel train with 24 coaches was moving from Amritsar to Howrah and was crossing Bhaisiya village under Katghar in Uttar Pradesh on the Delhi-Lucknow down railway line when Saini raised the alarm.

"There was some kind of sparkle near the railway track when a train was passing through it. After the train passed, I went to take a closer look and found that there was a crack. Thereafter, another train was approaching the track and I sensed that an accident was possible due to the wide gap. I waved a red cloth at the loco pilot who saw it and immediately applied the brakes," Saini said.

Soon after, senior officials and the maintenance team rushed to the spot.

According to the Divisional Railway Manager of Moradabad, Tarun Prakash, train movement on the concerned railway track was suspended for around three hours. Maintenance work was carried out after which the train moved on.

Moreover, similar incidents have taken place here in the past.

Last month, two carriages of Rajpura-bound goods train had a breakdown which led to the derailment of coaches at Chandausi railway station.

In December, two coaches of Moradabad-Kathgodam passenger train had derailed during shunting in the outer yard of the Moradabad railway station.