Root cause of accident identified, said Railways minister
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said today that the root cause of Friday’s horrific crash involving three trains has been identified, and that it was “due to a change in electronic interlocking”, An Indian Express report said the minister has also indicated the involvement of a human hand, but whether it was an error or deliberate is not clear.
While overseeing the restoration work at Bahanaga Bazar Railway Station in Balasore district of Odisha today, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters that the horrific crash involving three trains on Friday evening happened “due to a change in electronic interlocking”.
Hindustan Times reported that it has seen the commissioner of railway safety’s preliminary report, which suggests that a “mistaken” signal likely led to the Coromandel Express entering a side track, called loop line, on which a goods train was parked a few metres ahead, and the two collided. The Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast, coming from Bengaluru, then crashed into the derailed coaches of the other two trains.
The report also says that the line on which the two trains collided was “partially corroded”.
Meanwhile, an Indian Express report said Vaishnaw has indicated that “someone” made a change “to the point machine, the configuration of the track”, resulting in the collision.
It was not clear from the Minister’s statement whether this was a case of human error or sabotage, said the report.
The exact cause of the accident will only be determined after a detailed technical inquiry by the commissioner of railway safety.
