Friday’s triple train accident that left 261 dead and over 1000 injured has raised alarm bells over safety concerns for railway passengers.
Friday’s triple train accident that left 261 dead and over 1000 injured has raised alarm bells over safety concerns for railway passengers.
The coaches of Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express capsized after crashing into the coaches of Coromandel Express that had scattered on the adjacent track.
Preliminary investigations, a copy of which is with PTI, have revealed that the Coromandel Express train entered the loop line and crashed into a goods train parked there instead of the main line just ahead of the Bahanagar Bazar station.
While Coromandel Express was at a speed of 128 kmph, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express was running at a speed of 116 kmph. The report has been submitted to the Railway Board, sources said.
The collision was so hard that coaches were lifted high into the air throwing several passengers out of their compartments before smashing onto the ground.
Seventeen coaches of the Coromandel Express and SMVT-Howrah Super Fast Express derailed, leading to one of the worst railway accidents in the country in the last 15 years.
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reached the spot on Saturday morning to access the situation and announced a high-level inquiry.
On Saturday, railways spokesperson Amitabh Sharma informed reporters that the anti-collision technology was not available on the route of the crash.
Kavach, an anti-collision technology, alerts when a loco pilot jumps a signal, which is the leading cause of train collisions.
