NEW DELHI: With nine people killed and 41 others left injured in the Kanchanjunga Express accident in Darjeeling on Monday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take moral responsibility for the accident.
“Train accidents that have happened in the recent past raise many questions, yet the central government is silent instead of answering,” AAP national general secretary (Organisation) Sandeep Pathak said in a statement.
The Kanchanjunga express, going to Sealdah in West Bengal from Agartala in Tripura, was on the “Down line” and a goods train rammed into it from behind near the New Jalpaiguri station, around 600 km from Kolkata.
“The Prime Minister and Railway Minister should answer how long will such train accidents keep occurring. You talk about running bullet trains in the country but cannot provide safety to an ordinary passenger. How will this work?, the AAP leader asked.
Pathak asked whether the collision resulted from signal failures or errors and whether anti-collision devices were present.
“Railway Minister should answer three questions. First, it is being told that both the trains were running on the same track, so did your signal system fail, or was there any human error? Second, were anti-collision devices installed in these trains? If they were installed, why did this accident happen and if they were not, when will anti-collision devices be installed in these trains?, he asked. The ministry said that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reached the accident site in the afternoon.
“The Modi government has talked about this ‘Kavach’ (protection device) for years.What progress has been made on it? ” Pathak asked.
In a statement, the ministry said nine people suffered grievous injuries and 32 simple or minor injuries.