BALASORE, Jun. 4, 2023 (TBINN)
The root-cause of three-train-crash in Odisha’s Balasore District and the people responsible for it have been identified, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed today.
Railway Minister Ashwini also said the Railways is aiming to restore normal services on the affected tracks by Wednesday. Talking to reporters at the accident site, Railway Minister said the issue is of electric point machine, a vital device for Railway signalling and electronic interlocking.
The change that was made to electronic interlocking which led to the accident has been identified, Ashwini said while denying that the incident had anything to do with the anti-collision system Kavach.
Couple of days back, the crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers and a goods train occurred around 7 P.M. on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore. At least 288 people were dead and over 1,100 injured in the accident.
The enquiry into the accident has been completed and as soon as the Commissioner of Railway Safety (C.R.S.) provides his report, all the details will be known.
The root-cause of horrifying incident has been identified… I do not want to go into details. Let the report come out. I will just say that the root-cause and the people responsible have been identified, Railway Minister underlined.
In an interaction with the Press, Ashwini also said the kin of around 300 accident victims have been provided compensation. We met the patients and doctors at Soro Hospital. Special trains are being run from Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ranchi, Kolkata and other places so that patients can reach homes after treatment.
Ashwini Vaishnaw said restoration work was being carried out on a war footing and tracks have already been laid on one of the main lines. We have mobilised all resources. I also want to say that Kavach has nothing to do with the accident. This accident occurred due to changes to the electronic interlocking system. Railway Minister Ashwini did not forget to set aside the remarks of West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and termed those as false.
Setting of the point machine was changed. How and why it was done will be revealed in the probe report, Ashwini told the Press.
Notably, an electric point machine is a vital device for Railway signalling for quick operation and locking of point switches and plays an important role in the safe running of trains. Failure of these machines severely affects train movement and deficiencies at the time of installation can result in unsafe conditions.
It is being said in the preliminary probe report, the signal was given and taken off for the Up main line for train number 12841 (Coromandel Express). The train entered the loop line, dashed with the goods train and derailed. Meantime, train number 12864 (Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express) passed through the Down main line and two of its coaches derailed and capsized, the report said.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is on ground zero since Friday night, supervising rescue and relief operations as well as the Railway track restoration efforts, said the Railway aims to complete restoration work on tracks by Wednesday.
Rescue and relief at the accident site is complete, Ashwini Vaishnaw informed.
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