Odisha train accident: Top railway official flagged flaws in signalling system three months ago
In February, a top Railways official had flagged serious flaws in the signalling system. The officer had also warned that if the signal maintenance system was not monitored and corrected immediately, it could lead to serious accidents.
- Jun 4, 2023,
- Updated Jun 4, 2023 3:37 PM IST
While Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw explained that the deadly train accident in Balasore took place due to change in electronic interlocking, it has come to the light that an official within the railway board had warned about serious flaws in the system three months ago.
In a letter accessed by India Today, the principal chief operating manager of South Western Railway zone on February 9 raised concerns of signal failure of an express train which was averted due to the alertness of a loco pilot.
He wrote, "A very serious unusual incident occurred on 08.02.2023 at around 17.45 hrs, where in, Up Train No: 12649 Sampark Kranti Express, while starting from Road1, with Paper line clear ticket (PLCT) for advance starter as same was failed due to BPAC (block proving axle counter) failure, starter was working alright, thus, taken off at 17.45 Hrs. The loco-pilot of train no: 12649 Sampark Kranti Express had stopped the train before Point No: 65 A, while observing that the point was set to down main line (Wrong line), while as per PLCT, the train was supposed to pass through up main line."
He said the incident indicates that there are “serious flaws in the system where the route of dispatch gets altered after a train starts on signals with the correct appearance of route on the SMS panel. This contravenes the essence and basic principles of interlocking.”
"It is therefore, advised that necessary actions may be initiated against the culprits and corrective steps are be taken immediately to rectify the flaws prevailing in the signalling system of railway stations in SWR territory. The outcome of detailed investigation and measures taken for rectification of the system may be shared to educate the station masters, TIs and traffic officers for training, information and necessary actions on their part," he said in the letter.
Three trains Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train were involved in a pile up on Friday. According to reports, at least 275 people have died and over 1,100 have been injured in the triple train crash.
It must be noted that the officer had also warned if the signal maintenance system was not monitored and corrected immediately, it could lead to “re-occurrences and serious accidents”.
"It is understood that the signal maintainer, who was available at the station was trying to rectify the failures. The said ESM would have opted to wait for the dispatch of the train, since it was already issued with PLCT, and then attempted to rectify the failure, by adopting the extant rules and procedures," he wrote.
Meanwhile, a petition in the Supreme Court has sought the implementation of the automatic train safety system Kavach to prevent such incidents in the future.
(With inputs from Sagay Raj)
While Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw explained that the deadly train accident in Balasore took place due to change in electronic interlocking, it has come to the light that an official within the railway board had warned about serious flaws in the system three months ago.
In a letter accessed by India Today, the principal chief operating manager of South Western Railway zone on February 9 raised concerns of signal failure of an express train which was averted due to the alertness of a loco pilot.
He wrote, "A very serious unusual incident occurred on 08.02.2023 at around 17.45 hrs, where in, Up Train No: 12649 Sampark Kranti Express, while starting from Road1, with Paper line clear ticket (PLCT) for advance starter as same was failed due to BPAC (block proving axle counter) failure, starter was working alright, thus, taken off at 17.45 Hrs. The loco-pilot of train no: 12649 Sampark Kranti Express had stopped the train before Point No: 65 A, while observing that the point was set to down main line (Wrong line), while as per PLCT, the train was supposed to pass through up main line."
He said the incident indicates that there are “serious flaws in the system where the route of dispatch gets altered after a train starts on signals with the correct appearance of route on the SMS panel. This contravenes the essence and basic principles of interlocking.”
"It is therefore, advised that necessary actions may be initiated against the culprits and corrective steps are be taken immediately to rectify the flaws prevailing in the signalling system of railway stations in SWR territory. The outcome of detailed investigation and measures taken for rectification of the system may be shared to educate the station masters, TIs and traffic officers for training, information and necessary actions on their part," he said in the letter.
Three trains Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train were involved in a pile up on Friday. According to reports, at least 275 people have died and over 1,100 have been injured in the triple train crash.
It must be noted that the officer had also warned if the signal maintenance system was not monitored and corrected immediately, it could lead to “re-occurrences and serious accidents”.
"It is understood that the signal maintainer, who was available at the station was trying to rectify the failures. The said ESM would have opted to wait for the dispatch of the train, since it was already issued with PLCT, and then attempted to rectify the failure, by adopting the extant rules and procedures," he wrote.
Meanwhile, a petition in the Supreme Court has sought the implementation of the automatic train safety system Kavach to prevent such incidents in the future.
(With inputs from Sagay Raj)