At least 275 passengers dead. Over 1,100 people injured and an overwhelming feeling of loss and pain – the train accident in Odisha’s Balasore is being described as the third worst rail disaster in the country. Even as authorities clear the scene of the three-train pile-up and the Odisha government attempts to identify the bodies of those who have died, there are those who are demanding to know what caused this horrific incident. Was it a human error? Was it sabotage?
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is in the firing line, on Sunday (4 June) explained that the root cause behind the Odisha train tragedy was a change in the electronic interlocking system. “The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it… It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking. Right now our focus is on restoration,” Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The minister further said the inquiry into the train accident has been completed, and rail safety commissioner will submit the report at the earliest.
India’s Railway Board also agreed with Vaishnaw’s statement, virtually ruling out driver error and system malfunction, indicating a possible ‘signalling interference’ and hinting at ‘sabotage’ and tampering of the electronic interlocking system behind the triple train accident.
The minister further stressed that this accident had “nothing to do with Kavach”, the anti-collision system that has not been installed on this particular stretch yet.
Electronic interlocking system, signalling interference, Kavach – what do all these terms mean? We simplify things and try to explain what happened on Friday when the horrific crash took place.
What unfolded on Friday?
The Railway Board has detailed the events that led to the catastrophic three-train pile-up in Odisha’s Balasore on Friday night. Jaya Verma Sinha, member, operations & BD, Railway Board, said that the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, where the horrific crash took place, is a four-line station. There are two main lines in the middle and two loop lines of either side. On that day, there were goods trains with iron ore on both the loop lines.
The Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express was travelling from Chennai to Howrah and Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express was coming from Howrah. The signal was green on both the main lines. Coromandel Express was going at 128 kmph and the other train was at a speed of 126 kmph. The limit is 130 kmph, hence none of them was overspeeding.
Also read: Odisha derailment: Why do trains keep going off track in India?
Jaya Verma Sinha explained that a signalling problem was detected and the reaction was less at a such a high speed. She added that there was a ‘signalling interference’. She stated that only the Coromandel Express suffered the accident.
“For some reason, that train met with an accident, and the engine and coach went over it,” she said. It crashed into a goods train full of iron ore stationed on one of the loop lines, she explained, claiming that the goods train absorbed all the shock of the crash as it was very heavy. Coaches of the Coromandel Express got thrown off into the third track and rammed into a couple of coaches of the train approaching at high speed from Howrah, Sinha said.
“There were Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches, they are very safe,” she said, adding that damage was worse due to the iron ore.
What is the electronic interlocking system?
Now that we understand the sequence of events that led to the crash on Friday, let’s comprehend what is the electronic interlocking system and what role it played in the tragedy.
The interlocking system refers to a safety mechanism designed to ensure secure and effective functioning of train operations at railway junctions, stations, and signalling locations. It typically involves the integration of signals, points (switches), and track circuits. The interlocking system ensures that the movable sections of track, known as points, are appropriately aligned and securely locked in the correct position prior to permitting a train to pass over them.
In electronic interlocking, the control and supervision of train movements is carried out through software and electronic components. It utilises computers, programmable logic controllers and communication networks to manage and coordinate signalling, points and track circuits. This system makes sure that signals are cleared to proceed only when the route ahead is safe and clear.
As an official told News18, “This system is the alternative to the conventional relay interlocking system.”
Compared to electro-mechanical or conventional panel interlocking, the electronic interlocking system is more advantageous – it reduces space requirement, is safer and more reliable. This system is also used in countries such as Australia, Japan, USA, Germany and France.
Also read: Odisha train accident: How the deadly incident raises safety concerns
In India, electronic interlocking has been adopted on a large scale, with 347 stations in the country being provided the system in 2022. According to a rail official, as of 31 December 2022, 45.5 per cent of India’s rail network is provided with electronic interlocking.
Can electronic interlocking system malfunction?
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has stated that a “change in electronic interlocking” was the likely cause of the tragedy. This could have led to incorrect signalling or improper routing that forced the Coromandel Express off the main line.
But can this system malfunction? Officials say that the electronic interlocking system can malfunction and when it does, it flashes a red signal, indicating a need to be checked. They hinted that issues could have been caused by external interference such as human error. “The interlocking system can malfunction under certain conditions, such as its sensors being damaged, human manipulations, wrong rewiring during maintenance,” a signalling expert in the Indian Railways told Moneycontrol.
He added that in the Odisha rail accident, it was unlikely the error was not due to human interference. “In this case, the point should have been set on the normal line and not on the loop line. The point was set on the loop line, it is something that cannot happen without human interference,” the expert said.
Could Kavach have prevented the accident?
Shortly after the crash, questions were asked about the deployment of Kavach and many argue that if it had been available on the route it would have prevented this horrible tragedy.
Railway Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw refuted on Sunday the claims made by West Bengal chief minister and former Union rail minister Mamata Banerjee that Kavach could have averted the crash. “I want to say that Kavach has nothing to do with the accident. This accident occurred due to changes to the electronic interlocking system. The remarks of (West Bengal chief minister) Mamata Banerjee is not true,” Vaishnaw had said.
So, what is Kavach? It is India’s very own automatic protection system, Train Collision Avoidance System that is designed to bring a train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line within a prescribed distance. It was launched by the Ministry of Railways on 23 March 2022.
Its key features include automatic brake application in case the locomotive pilot fails to act, availability of line-side signal display in the cabin for improved visibility in foggy conditions and at higher speeds, automatic whistling at level crossings, continuous updating of movement authority, collision avoidance through direct loco-to-loco communication, and the inclusion of an SOS feature to control trains in emergency situations.
According to a News18 report, the cumulative deployment of Kavach has been 1,455 km of South Central Railway routes. Moreover, Kavach works have been awarded on 3,000 km route of Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai sections of Indian Railways and the work is in progress.
Experts are divided on if this system could have prevented the accident. Sudhanshu Mani, a railway veteran and designer of Vande Bharat Express, told Times of India that Kavach couldn’t have stopped this accident. “The Coromandel Express driver could not have pulled the brakes when he saw the obstruction as the train was running at high speed,” he said.
Rail Board member Jaya Varma Sinha also agreed with Mani’s assessment. Speaking in the press conference on Sunday, she said, “If an obstruction comes suddenly in front of a high-moving vehicle, then no technology in the world would prevent an accident.”
Rail officials have said that they will probe this tragedy and unearth the reason behind it. On Sunday night, the minister said that the Railway Board had recommended that further investigation be carried out by the CBI.
With inputs from agencies
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