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The triple train accident at Balasore in Odisha on June 2, which killed 295 passengers and seriously injured 176 others, occurred due to lapses in a signal circuit change made during the replacement of the electric lift barrier at the level crossing gate, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnau told Parliament on Friday citing the findings of the Commissioner of Railway Safety’s report.
The Shalimar Chennai Central Coromandel express (12841) collided with a stationary goods train, causing its buses to fall onto the adjacent track and crash into the Bengaluru Howrah Superfast coming from the opposite direction in June, killing nearly 300 people in one of India’s worst train accidents in decades.
Earlier this month, a ministry official, speaking to News18, confirmed that human error was responsible for the accident. However, due to the ongoing CBI investigation, the official said he could not reveal more details.
Findings of the Railway Safety Commissioner’s report
The report was revealed on Friday in response to questions from Rajya Sabha members regarding the incident.
In written responses, Vaishinau said that the rear-end collision occurred due to lapses in the signaling circuit change made in the past and while carrying out the signaling work related to the replacement of the electric lift barrier for the level crossing gate.
“These glitches resulted in train No. 12841 being missignaled as the UP Home signal indicates the green side for traffic on the UP Main Line of the station, but the junction connecting the UP Main Line with the UP Loop Line (Junction 17 A/B) was set on the UP Loop Line; the missignaling resulted in Train No. 12841 crossing the UP Loop Line, and eventually a rear-end collision with the goods train (No. N/DDIP) standing there.”
News18 reported earlier that the results of the Railway Safety Commission’s investigation indicated that the accident was mainly caused by false signals and human errors at multiple levels.
13 signal failures in 5 years
Vaishnav mentioned that during the last five years, there were 13 cases of signal failures in the railways. He added that there were no incidents attributable to defects in the interlocking signaling system.
However, data from the ministry published by News18 earlier this month contradicts this, as a total of 7,216 failure signals were reported across India in June alone. According to the available data, 16,458 signal failures were reported during the period from April to June, with an average of about 183 incidents per day.
Signal failures were “exceptionally high” across railway districts in June, 240 incidents per day on average
The data showed that overhead equipment breakdowns also increased, with 251 accidents in June compared to 199 last year.
In response to the data findings, the Indian Railways official attributed these figures to the large volume of trains and machinery, stating that malfunctions are common in any system.
41 victims have not yet been identified
The union minister revealed that 41 victims in the accident have yet to be identified out of a total of 295 dead. Of the dead, 254 had been identified as of July 18. The Ministry has kept the remains of unknown passengers at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, with DNA samples kept for analysis at CFSL, New Delhi.
Referring to the Ministry of Railways’ enhanced ex gratia payments of Rs 10,000 each to next of kin of the deceased, Rs 2,000 each to those with severe injuries and Rs 50,000 each to those with minor injuries, the minister said so far, Rs 29.49 crore has been paid ex gratia till July 16.
Earlier this month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made its first arrests in connection with the Balasore train accident on June 2, and detained three railway employees. The accused, Section Chief Engineer (Signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, Section Engineer Muhammad Amir Khan, and Technician Babu Kumar, all of whom were working in the Balasore area, were charged under IPC Section 304 (willful homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence).
The accident sent a jolt to the South Eastern Railway (SER), removing at least seven senior officials. Among those affected, five senior officials have been relocated, including the director of railways in Kharagpur district and the chief safety officer. In addition, Archana Joshi, Director General of South Eastern Railways, was transferred from her position, and Anil Kumar Mishra was appointed as her successor.
(With inputs from agencies)
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