Faulty signal, speeding freight train: Has caused West Bengal train crash

 

Faulty signal, speeding freight train: What caused West Bengal train crash

A combination of a signalling fault on the tracks before the New Jalpaiguri station and human error by the driver of the freight train are likely to have led to a deadly collision in West Bengal that killed nine people and injured dozens, said railway officials, adding that the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) has launched a probe into the accident.

“The actual cause of the accident will be clear after the CRS report,” railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after an inspection at the spot around 4pm. Railway Board chairperson Jaya Varma Sinha confirmed that human error may have played a role in the crash, the worst train accident in India since the Balasore accident in June last year that killed 296 people.

“Prima facie, it appears to be human error but we will know more after the inquiry… let me assure you that safety is our priority,” said Sinha.

The nine people killed include the driver of the goods train as well as the guard and seven passengers of the Kanchanjunga Express, which was headed from Sabroom in Tripura to Kolkata in West Bengal., carrying 1,300 people.

"Unfortunately, the (goods train) driver also died in the accident... Whatever one concludes from the circumstances, it appears that signals were ignored," she said.

At 8.55 am, the goods train rammed into the rear of the Kanchanjunga Express, about 10 km from New Jalpaiguri station, just before Rangapani town.

According to internal documents seen , the automatic signalling system between Ranipatra railway station and Chatarhat Junction, XX station head of New Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, had not been functioning since 5.50 am on Monday, prompting the station master of New Jalpaiguri to instruct (check) that a warning marked "T/A912" would now be sent to all drivers passing through that section.

Can you tell us anything about why the signal system did not work and why this is a recurring problem on Indian routes?

The T/A912 authorisation allows pilots to ignore red signals on the affected sections, subject to certain key provisions. One of them stipulates that pilots must drive at less than 15km/h in clear weather and less than 10km/h in rain (as was the case on the Monday morning circuit).