Calcutta, March 31: A train jumped the red light and screeched to a stop only metres before crashing into vehicles crossing the tracks near Dankuni station this morning.

An alert assistant stationmaster and two other railway men waved red flags furiously standing on the tracks to draw the Uttarbanga Express driver’s attention and prevented a disaster.

The Alipurduar-Sealdah train had stopped at the Dan- kuni approach signal at 10.06am. Eleven minutes later, it started moving towards the busy level crossing only 150m away, though the red light was on.

Assistant stationmaster Dibyendu Roy saw the train moving, “rushed down and alerted the gateman and another employee”, said an Eastern Railway spokesperson.

“All three waved red flags to stop the train. It rolled for over 100 metres and stopped just short of the crossing,” the official said.

After the gates were closed, the train was allowed to enter Dankuni station at 10.26am.

At the station, the express was stranded for nearly two hours as driver Ram Samugh and his assistant K.K. Paswan were suspended immediately.

“From the evidence we have, it was the drivers’ fault,” a railway official said.

A locomotive inspector drove the train to Sealdah around 1pm, 4.45 hours behind schedule.

Samugh and Paswan underwent tests to find out if they were drunk. The result would be known in a day.

They claimed that the signal was green when they started the train.

Railway officials rubbished the possibility. “The level crossing gates and signals are interlocked. Unless the gates close, the signal will not turn green,” an official explained.

A man who had taken the train from New Jalpaiguri said the passengers were relieved when it started moving around quarter past 10 because it had been running late.

“But it screeched to a stop moments later,” Amitabha Bhattacharya said, not knowing what the consequence of moving ahead could have been.

At Dankuni, the passengers were told that the train wo-uld be delayed further and advised to board the Howrah-bound Bibhuti Express, which was on another platform.