ODISHA: A million-dollar question continues to haunt the railway authorities as they try to pinpoint the cause of one of the worst train crashes in the world. How did the Odisha train crash happen?
Preliminary investigation revealed that a technical glitch followed by an unintentional error by the station manager on duty at 7 pm on Friday may have led to the train tragedy.
Bahanaga Bazar station where the derailment occurred has two mainline tracks - Up and Down lines - for trains to pass through and two loop lines used for a temporary halt of trains to allow smooth movement of trains on the main lines.
Usually, after a train is allowed into the loop by switching on the panel it moves a piece of track from the mainline to the loop line and once the train is in, the switch is moved back into the route relay panel to ensure that the moved piece of track is returned to its original position.
“This is where the technical glitch could have occurred as the track piece did not return from the loop line to the mainline. Though the issue reflected on the panel at the station and a red light flashed for a few seconds, the station manager present at that time somehow missed it. By the time he saw the panel, there was nothing abnormal,” said railway sources.
As the piece of track, according to sources, had not returned to its original position (from the loop line to mainline) after the goods train moved on the loop line, it is suspected, Coromandel Express that was moving at 130 kmph at that time came on loop line and dashed into the stationary iron ore laden freight train.
Had the station manager noticed the red light and take measures, this crash could have been avoided. As generally, the track piece returns to its original position automatically once the signal is taken off, infrastructure issues with the tracks also cannot be ruled out, the sources added.
"Through signal was given on both Up and Down mainline as per panel indication. The driving rod was found to be in good condition in between two rails. The stretcher bar was found in such a condition, which shows the point was set for the Up loop line. A significant gap was observed between curve stock and straight tongue rail," the report read.
Some experts said since the signal was taken off and the panel was set for Up mainline for Coromandel, the route relay interlock should have prevented point switching to a loop when a train was there. This could be the major malfunction and it has to be properly investigated, they demanded.
Railway board chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti, who visited the spot along with the railways minister, said the commissioner of railway safety of South East Circle AM Chowdhary has been tasked to inquire into the whole incident and find out the exact reason behind the horrific accident. “All possible angles will be probed. No one will be spared,” he told reporters.