‘Coromandel entered loop line after green signal’: Railway Board explains sequence of events leading to Odisha train tragedy

They said that the functioning of the interlocking system prima facie seemed to have been part of the problem which led to the accident. Sinha said the direction, route and signal were set for the Coromandel Express.

“Green signal means that in every way, the driver knows that his path ahead is clear and he can go forward with his permitted maximum speed. The permitted speed at this section was 130 kmph and he was running his train at 128 kmph which we have confirmed from loco logs,” she said.

The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express train was running at a speed of 126 kmph, the officials informed. “In both the trains, there was no question of over-speeding. Preliminary finding has found that there is a signalling issue,” Sinha said.

“Only one train was involved in the accident, it was the Coromandel Express. The Coromandel Express crashed with the goods train and its coaches went on top of the goods train. It was an iron ore-laden train, a heavy train, therefore the entire impact of the collision was on the train,” she added.

Earlier in the day, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the root cause of the train accident and the people responsible for it have been identified, adding that the inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety would be known soon.

In an interview to state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan Sunday morning at the site of the accident incident, Vaishnaw said, “The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was at the site yesterday… CRS has taken statements from all people, and has proceeded fast. The root cause has been identified – people who have done this work have also been identified. The CRS inquiry report – the reason why the accident happened will also be known early.”

To a question whether he could comment if the accident happened due to a technical or human error or because of anti-social elements, Vaishnaw said, “It is not right to comment on this… it is possible to comment, but not proper… I can say only after the independent agency (CRS) submits its report. But the probe is over…”

(With inputs from PTI)

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