a top railway official said that the preliminary findings suggest that there has been some issue with the signalling. (File Image: PTI)
The accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, located approximately 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar on Friday at around 7 PM
The Railway Board has recommended a CBI investigation into the Odisha train accident in which 275 people lost their lives, announced Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday.
Vaishnaw, who has been overseeing rescue and relief operations at the accident site since Saturday morning, said, “Taking into consideration the situation in which this accident took place, the Railway Board has recommended a CBI investigation into the matter.”
Odisha Train Tragedy: Railways Says ‘Kavach’ Couldn’t Have Averted Crash Because…
The accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, located approximately 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar on Friday at around 7 PM.
Earlier in the day, a top railway official said that the preliminary findings suggest that there has been some issue with the signalling. Only Coromandel Express met with an accident. The train was at a speed of around 128 km/h, she added.
Jaya Varma Sinha, who is the Railway Board’s member of operation and business development, further said that they are still waiting for the detailed report from the commissioner of Railway safety.
Elaborating on the events that led to the horrific train accident, Sinha said, “The goods train did not get derailed. Since the goods train was carrying iron ores, the maximum damage of the impact was on Coromandel Express. This is the reason for a huge number of deaths and injuries.”
“The derailed bogies of Coromandel Express came on the down line, and hit the last two bogies of Yesvantpur Express which was crossing at the speed of 126 km/h from down line,” she added.
The officer further said that the Railways has decided a priority high-speed section for ‘Kavach’ and the fund has been sanctioned. “This is an indigenous development, so we have a production limit. But the ‘Kavach’ will be rolled out on every section, she said.
