NEW DELHI: The driver and the assistant driver of the ill-fated Rayagada passenger train were prima-facie responsible for the Sunday evening accident in Andhra Pradesh, the initial probe by the Indian Railways has found. The driver of the train was killed in the mishap.
A senior railway official said the Rayagada passenger train overshot two defective signals at danger marks and hit the Visakhapatnam Palasa train from behind, killing 13 passengers and injuring dozens of others. This is the third major accident in recent months after those at Balasore (Odisha) and Raghunathpur (Bihar).
Following the accident, the railways formed a team of seven experts to conduct a prime-facie probe into the accident. After careful observation and analysis of technical sequences at the accident site, statements of officials and data loggers, the report found the driver and his assistant of Rayagada train overshot the signals.
Ignoring defective auto signal is a violation of railways’ safety norms; trains passing through the line should have stopped for two minutes at the defective auto signals before proceeding at slow speed. The Rayagada passenger train didn’t follow this norm, which led to the collision, the report said.
Erring staff to face action
Rail ministry is mulling action against staff flouting safety norms. In past five years, 211 cases of signal overshoots and 150 train derailments were reported