Balasore Train Accident Resulted From Signalling Fault, Human Error: CRS Report

NEW DELHI: The report from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) which investigated the reasons for the horrific train accident near Odisha’s Balasore on June 2 discovered "lapses at multiple levels".

A chief reason for its occurrence is the wires inside the level-crossing location box being wrongly labeled, leading to a mix-up during maintenance work, it was reported on Tuesday.

The report has fixed the primary responsibility for the crash on the Railway’s signalling department. It also mentioned about the station master’s failure to detect the "abnormal behaviour" displayed by the signalling control system.

The report by the CRS was placed before the Railway Board last week.

According to the CRS report, the location box which connects the wires for signalling, were wrongly lettered and therefore showed wrong functions. It says that, in 2015, the wiring diagram showing the technicians how to reconnect the wires after maintenance work was changed and approval was given. These changes in the labelling were, however, not done in the box. This resulted in the wiring diagram and the real labels being different.

Again in 2018, the circuit’s position that determines the status of "point" was moved in the box, but these were not labeled properly. The "point" referred to comprises a motorised part that gives guidance to a train to move from one track to another. The diagram did not even mark the changes that were made.

The CRS report also said that, on the day the accident happened, anomalies in the system were indicated. When the station master, who is the head of signalling at a station, ordered his men to reverse the said "point" from "loop line" to normal "Up line" for the oncoming Coromandel Express only 10 minutes before the accident, the change was indicated instantly. However, it is said that it usually takes about 13-14 seconds for the change of status to be indicated.

The report pointed to this as the most abnormal occurrence as a point's change of status was supposed to take between 13 and 14 seconds. This abnormality pointed to the fact that the system was getting a "false feed" due to faulty wiring.

It has been stressed that this abnormal occurrence should have been noticed by the station master due to this happening during individual operation and he must have been aware of the normal time that is required for the operation of a 'point' (7 to 15 seconds). He had mentioned this fact of his own volition in the inquiry.

“The station master should have brought this abnormality to the notice of the signalling staff working there and should not have taken off the 'Up Home' Signal for the train," the report said.

While the Coromandel Express got a green signal for the main line, the "point" remained directed to the "loop line" wrongly. This is said to have caused the train to enter the loop line and derail, resulting in the horrific accident.

It is considered to be India's worst rail accident in the past two decades, leading to the death of at least 293 people.

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