Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday that a “change in electronic interlocking” was to blame for the catastrophic train disaster that took place in the Balasore district of Odisha on Friday evening.
A system of signal equipment called an electronic interlocking prevents trains from moving in opposition to one another along a network of lines. Essentially, it is a safety mechanism to stop signals from being changed in the wrong order. This system’s goal is to prevent a train from moving forward until the safety of the route has been established.
“This is a different issue. It is about point machine, electronic interlocking. The change that occurred during electronic interlocking, the accident happened due to that. Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out after proper investigation,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was quoted as saying by ANI.
The minister said that the tracks destroyed during Saturday’s horrific Odisha train accident will be repaired as soon as possible and rail services in the affected sector will be restored by Wednesday.
“The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and it won’t be right for me to comment on that. Let the investigation report come. But the cause of the accident has been identified and the people responsible for it have been identified. Right now our focus is on restoration. There are two main lines and two loop lines. The work is underway and we will definitely complete restoration well before our target of Wednesday morning,” Vaishnaw said.
The Railway Minister also refuted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the accident could have been averted with Kavach (anti-collision) device.
“It has nothing to do with Kavach. The reason is not what Mamata Banerjee said yesterday. She said as per understanding,” he added.
According to official figures, the accident on Friday night left 288 people dead and over 1000 injured. The three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district of Odisha.
Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), South Eastern Railway said that the restoration work is underway at the site.
“Capsized bogies have been removed…2 bogies of goods train also have been removed…work of connecting track is going on from one side…will finish the work as soon as possible,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Railways, the cleanup effort is well under way, and officials are closely watching how the accident site is being cleaned up.
Over a thousand individuals are working on the project. The Ministry reported that more than seven Poclain Machines, two accident relief trains, three to four railway and road cranes are deployed.
The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express, and a cargo train were all involved in the three-way collision at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district, according to the preliminary report on the disaster.
Up to 17 coaches from these two passenger trains were seriously damaged when the accident occurred on Friday night.
24 Fire Services and Emergency units, five ODRAF Units, and seven National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Teams participated in the rescue efforts.
Mi-17 helicopters from the Indian Air Force (IAF) were used to transport the injured and deceased. The IAF coordinated the rescue attempts with the government and Indian Railways, according to the Eastern Command.
(With agency inputs)
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