Signal interference behind Coromandel Express crash: Railway Board
'The Coromandel Express received a green signal. The permitted speed for the train was 130 kmph. Coromandel was at 128 kmph. Yashwantpur-Howrah train was on down line at126 kmph. There was no overspeeding,' Jaya Varma Sinha, Member (Operations & Business Development) of Railway Board said.
FollowJaya Varma Sinha, Member (Operations & Business Development) of the Railway Board on Sunday said that prima facie, a signal intereference was behind the devastating crash in Odisha's Balasore district. She, however, made it clear that the actual reason will be confirmed only after the high-level probe into the train mishap is completed.
The Railway Board official gave details about the sequence of events leading up to the crash.
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Briefing media persons, she said: "Bahanaga (where the mishap happened) is a 4-line station with two main lines and 2 loop lines. A goods train was stationed at the loop line to ensure the main line had a clear pathway. The signal was green, which means (Coromandel Express) driver could pass."
'The Coromandel Express received a green signal. The permitted speed for the train was 130 kmph. Coromandel was at 128 kmph. Yashwantpur-Howrah train was on down line at126 kmph. There was no overspeeding,' she added.
'Only Coromandel Express met with the accident. There is a lot of wrong information in doing the rounds. A preliminary probe suggested a signalling issue. This was communicated by Railway Minister on Sunday,' the Railway Board official said, adding that the Electronic Interlocking is supposed to be tamper-proof.
'The Coromandel ExpressIt rammed into the Goods Train on the Up line. The Coromandel Express engine and some coaches were lifted up upon impact with the goods train. The train normally should not have turned. In this case, at the speed at which Coromandel Express was going and the fact that it rammed into a Goods train laden with iron ore, the entire impact was absorbed by the train. That caused the severe crash,' she added.
'Some coaches of Coromandel Express spilt onto the down line on which the Yashwantpur-Howrah Express train was passing. The Yashwantpur-Howrah Express train had almost crossed the Coromandel Express. But the last two coaches came in contact with the Yashwantpur-Howrah Express train,' she further said.
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