An official investigation concluded that India’s greatest train tragedy in two decades was caused by incorrect connections made by workers mending a rail-road barrier.
More than a thousand people were injured and 288 were killed in the catastrophe that occurred on June 2 at the Bahanaga Bazar station in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
A catastrophe occurred when a passenger train collided with a stalled goods train, veered off the rails and collided with an oncoming train.
Reuters obtained a copy of the report from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) that concluded that changes made to the signalling circuit in an attempt to address recurring issues at a nearby rail-road barrier were to blame for the initial incident.
Taking the boom-barrier circuit down for repair resulted in an incorrect connection in the signalling system because local railway workers lacked a standard circuit diagram, the report said. It reported that the passenger train was diverted into the path of the goods train because of a technical error.
For the first time, Reuters reported last month that inquiries were centering on maintenance performed on the rail-road barrier and its probable link to a manual bypass of the signalling system.
The Railway Board operates the state monopoly that is Indian Railways, the world’s fourth-largest train network. The Railways Ministry is the board’s reporting entity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is investing $30 billion to upgrade the rail network with shiny new trains and contemporary stations to improve infrastructure and connectivity, but the crash has sparked concerns about whether or not enough attention is being paid to safety.
According to the CRS investigation report, there were numerous mistakes made by members of the signal and telecom department, and normal operating procedures were not adhered to throughout the maintenance.
