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Great push for punctuality and too many trains running on the main routes not only put a lot of stress on the machines but on the humans as well. And railroad employees are no different. News18 spoke to a few officials who ruled out the possibility of “sabotage” in the Odisha incident, but said the mistake may have been due to “staff fatigue”, and that it was an “unintentional mistake”.
Last week, News18 reported that as of February, of 96,582 ungazed positions at the South Eastern Railway (SER), 17,811 were vacant. Moreover, out of the 937 positions announced in the Official Gazette, 150 are vacant.
Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha, where the accident that killed more than 270 people took place, is under the SER system. Also, there are 14,815 vacancies across India in the Signals and Communications department alone.
A senior official from the SER explained to News18 that the staff, who are directly involved in the trains’ operations, are under a lot of pressure.
“On busy main roads, like the one where the accident occurred, the trains are so frequent that every two or three minutes, there will be a train. Sometimes, the pressure is so high that they may ignore some issues, not on purpose, but by accident.” said the official, who asked not to be named.
Also, stopping one train will affect the punctuality of not only that train but those behind it as well.
“It is possible that the point was not set correctly, the signals were not working as they should be, or the train derailed for some other reason. It is possible that a maintenance request was raised but ignored, and it is also possible that maintenance has been carried out,” the official added. Hurry because of the pressure and something else is also likely to happen.Reveal the real reasons.
They also said it was frustrating to question their employees who work tirelessly to run thousands of trains a day across India.
“Sometimes, employees are under so much pressure that they may make mistakes. We all make mistakes. It is indeed a criminal error but it is possible that it was not intentional. I do not agree with the word ‘sabotage,’” the official said, explaining that they are not saying that employees are negligent. But “mere mortals” and the error could be “accidental”.
“It is unbelievable to intentionally tamper with the system. Even if the control and monitoring units are tampered with in a particular station and department, it will be reflected in the central monitoring unit (of that department).
The official added that they could only talk about situations based on their knowledge and experience but stressed that there was no denying the pressure on staff working in train operations.
Echoing similar sentiments, another official from the Kharagpur Division of Railways, under the SER, said the electronic linking and interlocking is so sensitive that even if a stone impacts the track, the signals will turn red.
I’m not saying it didn’t involve human intervention, but vandalism is a very strong claim. The system is highly sensitive as well as intelligent. Just by drilling some wires, changing points, or simply pressing a few buttons will not affect the system, although with these works, the signal can fail. But on a failed system, the signals will turn red.
They also said that the only person who could know what really happened was Loco’s pilot. Although he made a statement, “But we cannot ignore his mental state. He must be in a state of shock after the accident.”
The Kharagpur official also said that employees have to work longer shifts sometimes because they don’t force anyone to relieve them and all these things add to the unsafe conditions.
“Running by the book is not always possible and the situation on the ground needs to change. Sometimes it’s the best thing to do and sometimes it’s not. Some people perform well under pressure and some just can’t. It happens in every field and job. They conclude that The pressure to ensure punctuality despite back-to-back trains is a huge challenge.”
A third official, who did not wish to be named, said that while signals were being talked about, it was also possible that the train had derailed before entering the loop line, and because of its speed the buses were everywhere, including collisions with goods. train.
There could be a number of reasons for derailment. It can happen because of the track or even the wheels. It could be the fault of the railway staff in checking the equipment incorrectly or insufficient maintenance
locomotives, rail cars, track or signals,” he explained.
The third official said a detailed investigation of the track and wheel is also crucial. The first wheel of the derailed section must be identified as well as the anchor point and landing point.
The investigation is underway and we must wait for it. If we are talking about human intervention, it can also be more negligent than a planned criminal act. The operation of trains is not just the duty of one person but a number of persons involved. They said that accidents caused by human errors occurred earlier as well.
Meanwhile, just days after the incident, the FBI launched an investigation on Tuesday.
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