Weeks Before Odisha Train Tragedy, Railways Listed 5 Close Shaves, Pulled Up Staff For Using ‘Short-Cuts’

Bhubaneswar: Couple of months before the June 2 Odisha train tragedy, the Railway Board had in April had pulled up signalling staffers for using “short-cuts” for reconnecting the signalling gear after maintenance work without proper testing of points.

The practice, involving “reconnecting signalling gear without proper testing of points” and “wrong wiring during preparatory works” during maintenance, was highlighted in a letter by Railway Board Member (Infrastructure) RN Sunkar on April 3, which cited five incidents in the current calendar year from various zones, reports said.

According to the letter, the signalling gears were reconnected by signal and telecom staffers without proper testing of points after blocks for switch/turnout replacement, wrong wiring during preparatory works, attending signal failures etc. Such practices reflect dilution of manual and codal provisions and is a potential hazard to safety in train operations and needs to be stopped, it said.

It mentioned about Rajya Rani Express entering washing line area instead of Lucknow junction station; derailment a local train, heading towards platform number one of Kharkopar (Mumbai), over emergency crossover; derailment of a locomotive engine of Sarbat Da Bhala Express at Ludhiana station during reverse; a goods train traversing to wrong track from emergency crossover at Bagratawa railway station (Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh), Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express being given wrong track while it was on loop line to continue its journey towards Hazrat Nizamuddin. This incidents were reported between January 27 and March 22 this year.

“The five incidents indicate that despite repeated instructions, signaling staff are continuing to adopt short cut methods. Officers and staff need to be sensitised to ensure integrity of the signaling system being of utmost importance,” it added.

The letter went viral after being tweeted by Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday.

As the CBI investigates the Balasore train disaster will it also inquire why this letter was written and what follow up action was taken? pic.twitter.com/tYxqxHTko4

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 14, 2023

The railway minister as well as officials had hinted at signal interference as a possible cause of a horrific crash, involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train, which claimed 288 lives. It was India’s worst rail crash in two decades.