Team Mangalorean - Suburban

Mangalore: Usually, traffic movement is comfortable on Sundays within the city and around. But an unusual case was observed on July 15, when a railway signal at the level crossing at Padil-Alape stayed put showing red even after the Matsygandha express passed. The gate which had been closed to allow the train to pass could not be opened because of the signal fault.

The sentry at the gate could not be faulted since he was not supposed to open the gate when the red signal was on. He went by the rule. If another train was to come, opening the gate would have endangered hundreds of lives and he would have faced action for doing so.

Long queues of vehicles piled up on either side, which spilled over into the highways at Padil and Jeppinamogaru. After an hour or so, a fault was detected in the signal system. The technical problem was set right and the gate was opened thereafter.