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Only Coromandel Express met with accident in Odisha: Railways
The Chennai-bound Coromandel Express was primarily affected during Friday’s accident in Odisha’s Balasore district, the Railways said on Sunday.
The Chennai-bound Coromandel Express was primarily affected during Friday’s accident in Odisha’s Balasore district, the Railways said on Sunday, adding that a freight train it rammed into and another passenger train that collided later were minimally impacted.
Citing preliminary investigation, Jaya Varma Sinha, member of Operation and Business Development of the Railway Board, ruled out “over speeding” and said “some interference in the (signal) system” could have possibly led to the accident, which has claimed 275 lives so far, proving to be India’s worst train tragedies in the last three decades.
Addressing the media in the national capital, Sinha said: “Only one train was involved in the accident, it was the Coromandel Express. The Coromandel Express crashed with the goods train and its coaches went on top of the goods train. It was an iron ore-laden train, a heavy train… therefore, the entire impact of the collision was on the train.”
The railway board official said both the passenger trains were running within the permissible limit of 130 kmph in the area and that “some interference in the system” could have possibly led to the accident in India’s worst train tragedies in the last three decades.
“We have seen the data and we can confirm that the Coromandel Express was at a speed of 128 kmph and the Yesvantpur Express was at a speed of 126 kmph… In both the trains, there was no question of over-speeding,” Sinha said.
“Preliminary information reveals that there was some interference with the interlocking system because of which the Coromandel Express met with an accident. The exact cause will be known after the Commission of Railway Safety investigates the matter,” she added.
Earlier in the day, Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the cause of the accident was a change in the interlocking and point machine, an intricate system of interconnected safety checks designed to keep trains from crossing each other’s paths.
Sinha said there were four trains in the area at the time of the accident. While the Coromandel Express was on the ‘up mainline’, the Yesvantpur Express was on the ‘down mainline’; the section also had one goods train, each on both the ‘up’ and ‘down’ line.
“The Coromandel Express entered the up-loop line, thus hitting the goods train (on ‘up’ line). The Yesvantpur Express that had almost crossed the spot, unfortunately had two of its coaches hit by the Coromandel coaches, as a result of which two coaches of the Yesvantpur train also derailed,” Sinha said, adding that the goods train on the ‘down’ line too had some impact due to Yesvantpur’s derailment.
Sinha also said the board officials spoke to the loco pilot of Coromandel Express, 15 minutes after the accident, who said he received a green signal. “Since he was seriously injured, we could not speak to him more.”
