Gujarat: Alert loco pilot halts train in time, saves 5 lions on track

Bhavnagar: The loco pilot of a goods train saved the lives of five lions when he applied emergency brakes and stopped the train in time in Gujarat’s Amreli district in the early hours of Wednesday, an official said.

The incident occurred around 4.30 am on the Pipavav-Rajula section of the Gir forest where loco pilot Bhupendra Meena was piloting a goods train, the Western Railway’s Bhavnagar division said in a release.

Meena was alerted about the presence of five Asiatic lions on the tracks through a torchlight by the forest department ‘trackers’ deployed there to ensure the safety of the big cats, it said.

The loco pilot slammed the emergency brakes and brought the train to a halt. The train left for its destination after the lions moved away from the tracks.

This is the second such incident this month wherein loco pilots have saved the lives of lions in Gujarat. On August 19, an alert loco pilot stopped the train in time to save the lives of two lions on the same section between Pipavav and Rajula.

In June, the lives of 10 lions were saved after the pilot of a goods train applied emergency brakes on spotting the big cats on the tracks near Pipavav Port.

In the last few years, many lions have either died or been seriously hurt on the railway line connecting Pipavav Port with north Gujarat. As per the release, loco pilots of the Bhavnagar railway division have saved the lives of 60 lions since April 2024.