A signal snag, not a callous local train driver, was to blame for the near crash at Sankrail on Sunday, South Eastern Railway drivers who ply regularly on the route alleged.

It took almost nine hours to restore the automatic signalling system after the Panskura-bound local and the Howrah-bound East Coast Express came within 100 metres of each other on the same track, they added.

The railways, however, said the repairs were necessitated by the damage inflicted by angry passengers after the narrow escape.

The drivers said it could not take so long to repair or replace the damaged equipment in the signal panel operator’s cabin. “It is because of a more serious problem that they had to work from 3pm to midnight.”

Till the automatic system was restored, drivers of trains passing Sankrail had to get down, seek the stationmaster’s approval and then resume their journey.

None of the drivers Metro spoke to on Monday was willing to be named for fear of being punished.

The local train driver, R. Khan, who had slammed the emergency brakes about 200 metres past the signal post after seeing the other train heading towards him, apparently had over 20 years’ experience. “How can he be careless one moment and alert enough to slam the emergency brakes the next?” asked another driver.

Hours after the incident, Metro had heard a shaking Khan tell one of his bosses over the phone from Sankrail: “Sir, believe me, the signal was green and that is why I went ahead. If I had not applied the brakes in time, there could have been a major accident.”

Khan has been suspended and an inquiry ordered.

“He is being made a scapegoat,” claimed another driver.

A senior South Eastern Railway official said signal overshooting was “not uncommon” even among experienced drivers. “They sometimes fail to spot the signal or control the speed in time. Prima facie, it is the local train driver’s fault.”

A daily passenger who was at the local train’s door when it shuddered to a stop had a different story to tell. “I saw the train cross the green signal at normal speed. Then suddenly it screeched to a halt and we saw another train in front. Some of us even praised the driver for his alertness. But I read in the newspapers that he was blamed for the danger and suspended,” said Prabir Ghosh, a resident of Mugkalyan in Bagnan.