Railway deaths go 60 up

“This is very unusual. There was something wrong with the loco pilots (of the Uttarbanga Express),” Vivek Sahai,the Chairman,Railway Board (CRB),told reporters in Kolkata after returning from the crash site in the evening.

According to Sahai,the Uttarbanga made an unscheduled stop at Gadadharpur station just over 7 km ahead of Sainthia at around 1.50 am to allow the Vananchal to pull away some distance. It started rolling again at 1.56 am,and accelerated very fast,reaching a considerable speed as it approached Sainthia.

About 1.7 km from Sainthia,the Uttarbanga roared over a bridge,ignoring the 30 km/h speed limit. Its driver M C Dey,who had a spotless record and belonged to the elite ‘A’ category of drivers who make up no more than 15-20 per cent of the Railways’ total strength of drivers,ignored the red home signal in his path,Sahai said.

Sahai did not discount the possibility of “sabotage” but did not elaborate. He said,however,that it was unlikely the engine developed a mechanical fault.

Earlier in the day,Eastern Railway General Manager V N Tripathy had said “nothing” could be ruled out,including the possibility of “chherchhaar” (tampering) with railway equipment. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had said,“I am suspicious about the cause of the accident.”

According to Matar Let,the cabin master on duty,the crash occurred at 2.04 am,as the Vananchal was moving out of Sainthia.

According to Let’s records,the train had arrived at 1.46 am,nearly five hours after its scheduled time of 8.54 pm,and had lingered on the platform for at least 12 minutes after it was cleared to leave.

The Uttarbanga reached Sainthia a little after 20 minutes past its scheduled time of 1.38 am. “The Vananchal Express came in at 0146 hours,and I gave it the signal to leave at 0152,” said Let. “The Uttarbanga was given the signal to enter Sainthia at 0157,and the accident took place at 0204,” he added.

Let’s account seemed in apparent contradiction to that of CRB Sahai,who said “the signal (for the Uttarbanga) was red”,and that this had been “verified by the Member (Electrical),Railway Board”.

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) P S Mondal said,“I am not sure whether the signal was green or red for the Uttarbanga Express to come into Sainthia.”

Let said the drivers of the Uttarbanga might have fallen asleep. His colleague,Cabin Master Tamal Ghosh agreed. “If the drivers were not asleep,how come the Uttarbanga Express entered the station like a storm? It seemed like the drivers had lost control over the train,” said Ghosh.

CRB Sahai said in Kolkata that the Uttarbanga was travelling at 90 km/h when it rammed the Vananchal. Railway officials in Delhi gave a more conservative estimate of around 60 km/h,which,they said,was still at least 40 km/h faster than a train coming in to stop at a station should be doing. At any rate,the Uttarbanga appears to have done the 7.19 km from Gadadharpur to Sainthia in under eight minutes,an average speed of around 55 km/h.

DRM Mondal expressed doubt over the possibility of both drivers having dozed off in the short time that passed between the train leaving Gadadharpur and reaching Sainthia.

“If they were asleep,how were they able to stop the train at the previous station,Gadadharpur,and then start again? It is very difficult for us to ascertain all this at the moment,” Mondal said.

Vendors,passengers and other eyewitnesses at Sainthia station said the Vananchal would have escaped if it had left the platform on time.

Sainthia is a busy junction where large quantities of goods — mainly vegetables — are loaded and unloaded. The Vananchal’s scheduled stoppage at the station is only one minute,but it always stops for much longer as sacks of green chilles,cauliflower,wax gourd and brinjal,and tins of mustard oil are taken off the train,they said.

Vegetable traders at the platform alleged the train is also delayed by policemen who haggle with them for a “cut”. Sheikh Kashem,a wholesale vegetable trader,said the Vananchal normally stops for at least 35 minutes at Sainthia as these “transactions” take place.

“We have to tackle the GRP,the RPF and the Railway babus. We have to pay them off even though our goods are booked from Bhagalpur. For every sack that we unload,they demand Rs 15. The same was happening last night. I was on the platform when the accident happened,” Kashem said.

Another trader,Jishan Sheikh,corroborated Kashem’s story. He too said he was present at the platform,and that the Vananchal was being held up by policemen.

The Officer-in-Charge,GRP,Suresh Bhowmick,confirmed the train had been standing beyond its scheduled stoppage,but denied the charges of corruption.

“The police used to take money earlier. That is true. But ever since I took charge at Sainthia station on April 15,2010,all malpractices have stopped. Let anyone prove that the police collects money from traders,and I shall resign,” said Bhowmick.

DRM Mondal said it was “a shame” that drivers “across the country” did not start from stations even after receiving the green signal.

CRB Sahay said the Railways might approach agencies other than the Commissioner of Railway Safety — who will hold the statutory inquiry — to get to the bottom of what happened. The Army,which was called in from its Panagarh base,carried out the search and rescue operations,in which a massive 140-tonne crane was used. A compensation of Rs 5 lakh has been announced for the families of the dead,and Rs 1 lakh for the seriously injured.