Station Master, Drivers Suspended; Commissioner Of Railway Safety To Probe LTT Express Derailment

Bhubaneswar On-duty Station Manager of Nergundi railway station, guard of the Goods Train, Loco Pilot and Asst Loco Pilot of LTT-Bhubaneswar Express have been suspended in connection with the accident near Salagaon in Cuttack district on Thursday morning.

Commissioner, Railway Safety, South Eastern Circle at Kolkata, Abhai Kumar Rai, will hold a statutory inquiry into derailment of the LTT Express on January 18 at Officer’s Rest House near Cuttack railway station, an ECoR release said, adding that it is an independent organisation under Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The bi-weekly Express hit the rear guard van of a Goods Train between Salagaon and Nergundi Station in Nergundi-Dhenkanal Railway Section around 7 am. While five coaches of the LTT Express got derailed and three were displaced from the track under the impact of the crash. Though there was no casualty, 24 passengers sustained injuries in the mishap.  The injured were taken to local Hospital and SCB Medical College Hospital at Cuttack.

The rescue operation was affected because of dense fog, the release said.

The ECoR had provided Helpline Number 0671-1072 (Cuttack), 0674-1072, 18003457401, 18003457402 (Bhubaneswar), 06752-1072 (Puri).

Following the mishap, three morning trains -12880 Bhubaneswar-LTT Express, 18426 Durg-Puri Express, 12831 Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Garib Rath Express, 58132 Puri-Rourkela Passenger and 68413 Talcher-Puri MEM – had to be diverted via Naraj bypassing Cuttack railway station.