Signalling system error led to deadly train crash: India minister

The derailment of trains on Friday in eastern India that killed at least 288 people and injured more than 800 was caused by an error in the electronic signalling system that sent the trains on the wrong tracks, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has told the ANI news agency.

“We have identified the cause of the accident and the people responsible for it,” the minister said on Sunday, adding it was “not appropriate” to give details before a final inquiry report into the country’s deadliest rail disaster in decades.

There was confusion about the exact sequence of events leading to the crash in the Balasore district in Odisha state.

But Jaya Verma Sinha, a senior railway official, said the preliminary investigations revealed that a signal was given to the high-speed Coromandel Express to run on the main track, but the signal later changed, and the train instead entered an adjacent loop line where it rammed a freight train loaded with iron ore. The collision flipped Coromandel Express’s coaches onto another track, causing the incoming Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express from the opposite side also to derail, she said.

The passenger trains, carrying 2,296 people, were not overspeeding, she said. Trains that carry goods are often parked on an adjacent loop line on the side so the main line is clear for a passing passenger train.

Sinha said the root cause of the crash was related to an error in the electronic signalling system. She said a detailed investigation will reveal whether the error was human or technical.

The electronic interlocking system is a safety mechanism designed to prevent conflicting movements between trains. It also monitors the status of signals that tell drivers how close they are to the next train, how fast they can go and the presence of stationary trains on the track.

“The system is 99.9 percent error-free. But 0.1 percent chances are always there for an error,” Sinha said. To a question whether the crash could be a case of sabotage, she said, “Nothing is ruled out.”

(Al Jazeera)