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Odisha Train Accident: Coromandel Express Crashed At 128 Kmph Speed, Missed Main Rail Line

admin — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 10:23:19 +0000

The triple train accident in Odisha on June 2, 2023 is touted as one of the world rail disasters in the world, with more than 280 confirmed deaths and 900 injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the incident site in the Balasore district of Odisha, and said the government will leave no stone unturned to punish the culprits. Earlier, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that a high-level probe has been initiated to ascertain the cause of the crash. While initial reports suggested that the Coromandel Express crashed head on with a goods train, it was later denied by the Indian Railways.

There have been all sorts of theories floated on various social media platforms detailing how exactly the crash took place. However, preliminary investigations have revealed that the Coromandel Express train involved in the rail tragedy in Odisha on Friday entered the loop line and crashed into a goods train parked there instead of the main line just ahead of the Bahanagar Bazar station, reported PTI quoting a source.

What Caused The Accident?

As per a report submitted to the Railway Board, the Coromandel Express travelling from Shalimar to Chennai Central was at a speed of 128 kmph, when possible signalling failure sent the train to the loop line instead of the main line just ahead of the Bahanagar Bazar railway station. The express train then rear ended into a parked goods train on the loop line, resulting in 4-5 coaches to scatter on the adjacent track.

Around the same time, the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express was running at a speed of 116 kmph. The coaches of Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express capsized after crashing into the coaches of Coromandel Express that had scattered on the adjacent track.

The loop lines of the Indian Railways are constructed in a station area — in this case, the Bahanagar Bazar station — to accommodate more trains to ease out the operations. The loop lines are generally 750 metres in length to accommodate full-length goods train with multiple engines, reported PTI.

An eyewitness to the incident, Anubhav Das, also told PTI that local authorities and railway officials had initially indicated that the train he was travelling on — Coromandel Express — had rammed into the goods train. However, none of these accounts was officially confirmed by the railways. While a thorough probe is underway, none of the authorities has so far talked about any possibility of a sabotage.

While sources had earlier said a signalling failure could be the reason behind the crash, railway officials said it is not yet clear if Coromandel Express entered the loop line and hit the stationary goods train or it first derailed and then hit the parked train after entering the loop line. The preliminary probe report, a copy of which is with PTI, said the signal was given and taken off for the up main line for train number 12841 (Coromandel Express), the train entered the loop line, dashed with the goods train and derailed.

In the meantime, train number 12864 passed through the down main line and two of its coaches derailed and capsized, the report said. Sudhanshu Mani, the former general manager of the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai and the man who led the team that made the first Vande Bharat train, prima facie ruled out any error on the part of the two loco pilots involved in the tragedy and said the primary reason for the mass casualty is the first derailment and the unfortunate timing of the second passenger train, which came from the other direction at a very high speed.

Mani said if it was just the first train derailing, the LHB coaches would not have capsized and so many casualties would not have been reported. “Although the reason for the derailment of the first train cannot be a matter of conjecture, as of now, I do not see any evidence of an SPAD case, meaning the driver overriding signals. It was going on the correct path as the data logger shows that the signal was green,” Mani said.

KAVACH Anti-Collision Technology

The national transporter has also said anti-train collision system “Kavach” was not available on the route. The railways is in the process of installing “Kavach”, an anti-train collision system, across its network. “The rescue operation has been completed. Now, we are starting the restoration work. Kavach was not available on this route,” Indian Railways Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said.

Kavach alerts when a loco pilot jumps a signal (Signal Passed at Danger — SPAD), which is the leading cause of train collisions. The system can alert the loco pilot, take control of the brakes and bring the train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line within a prescribed distance.

The Indian Railways has appointed A M Chowdhary, CRS, SE Circle to investigate the crash. The commissioner of railway safety works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and investigates all such accidents. “A M Chowdhary, CRS, SE Circle, will inquire into the accident,” a spokesperson of the Indian Railways said. The crash involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train.

Source: Bureau

The post Odisha Train Accident: Coromandel Express Crashed At 128 Kmph Speed, Missed Main Rail Line appeared first on Rma News: Latest News, Live Breaking News, Today News, Political News Updates.

Odisha Triple Train Accident Latest Update: Death Toll Rises To 237, Over 900 Injured; Compensation Announced

admin — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 05:14:31 +0000

A major train accident took place in Balasore, Odisha on Friday evening at around 6:51 pm. Coromondal Express (12841) and goods train collided near Bahnaga station here...

In this painful accident, 237 people died and 900 people were injured. Earlier, there was information about the death of 50 and then 70 passengers, late night this number had increased to 120. Also, more than 350 injured were reported. Although the rescue operation is going on and the number of dead is increasing.

Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena confirmed that 237 people have died and 900 people are injured in the accident.

Earlier, Odisha Fire Services DG Sudhanshu Sarangi had told that 'we have recovered more than 120 bodies, the death toll may increase.'

- The injured have been admitted to Soro CHC, Gopalpur CHC and Khantapada PHC. At present, all the trains on this route have been stopped. Rescue operation is going on. The death toll may increase. At present, 5 teams of NDRF have gathered with the administration for relief and rescue.

- Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena told that about 50 ambulances have been deployed to take people. But the number of injured is very high. That's why a large number of buses are being mobilized to take the injured to the hospital.

- Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena told that NDRF and SDRF teams are on the spot. Apart from this, 600-700 rescue force personnel are working. This rescue operation will run overnight. All the hospitals are cooperating. Our immediate concern is to save the victims.

- A total of three trains collided in the accident. According to information, SMVB-Howrah Express (12864), Coromandel Express and goods train collided. First the Howrah Express collided with the goods train, then the goods train collided with the Coromandel.

- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav will visit the accident site tomorrow. Along with this, he has announced compensation. He tweeted that ₹ 10 lakh has been announced for the families of the dead, ₹ 2 lakh for the seriously injured and ₹ 50,000 for the minorly injured.

The President expressed grief over the train accident The President has also expressed grief over the train accident. On behalf of the President of India, the tweet said that 'Deeply saddened to know about the loss of lives in an unfortunate train accident in Balasore, Odisha. My heart aches for the bereaved families. I wish success in the rescue operations and speedy recovery of the injured.
The state government is arranging generators and lights on the spot for rescue operations. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed Minister Pramila Mallick and Special Relief Commissioner to reach the accident site immediately.

Helpline Numbers Issued

- Emergency Control Room: 6782262286
- Howrah: 033-26382217
- Kharagpur: 8972073925, 9332392339
- Balasore: 8249591559, 7978418322
- Kolkata Shalimar: 9903370746
- Rail Madad: 044- 2535 4771
- Chennai Central Railway: 044- 25330952, 044-25330953 and 044-25354771

TMC demands resignation
Let us tell you that the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Friday over the gruesome triple train accident in the neighboring state of Odisha. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that instead of installing anti-collision devices in trains to prevent such accidents, the Center was spending crores of rupees on developing software to spy on opposition leaders.

He said the Narendra Modi government at the Center is bragging about Vande Bharat trains and newly constructed railway stations to gain political support by "misleading the public", but neglecting safety measures.

CPI MP also accused of neglect
On the other hand, the CPI MP has accused the government of focusing only on luxury trains. MP Binoy Vishwam has said that, 'The government's focus is only on luxury trains. Trains and tracks of common people are neglected. The deaths in Odisha are the result of that. He said that the Railway Minister should resign.

5 trains canceled and 5 diverted
Due to the accident, the Railways has canceled six trains, while five have been diverted. Puri Express 12837, Yesvantpur Express 12863, Santragachi Puri Special 02837, Shalimar Sambalpur 20831, Chennai Mail 12839 are cancelled. See list-

Mamta tweeted about the accident
West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee tweeted about the accident. He wrote- Shocked to know that the Shalimar-Coromandel Express carrying passengers from West Bengal collided with a goods train near Balasore this evening and some of our people going out were seriously injured.

We are coordinating with Odisha Government and South Eastern Railway for the betterment of our people. Our emergency control room has been activated immediately with the numbers 033- 22143526/22535185. All efforts have been started for rescue and assistance.

We are sending a team of 5-6 members to the spot to cooperate with Odisha Government and Railway authorities and assist in rescue operations. I am personally monitoring the situation continuously along with the Chief Secretary and other senior officers.

Southern Railway, Chennai Division issued helpline numbers
Southern Railway, Chennai Division has issued helpline numbers to help people after the Balasore train accident.

Balasore Train Accident - Southern Railway - Chennai Division Helpline Numbers

Southern Railway - Chennai Division Helpline Number

1) Central Helpdesk in Commercial Control- 044-25354771. 044-25330952 & 044-25330953, Mobile No. 9003061974
2) Chennai Central Station: 044 25354148 & 044 25330714
3) Katpadi Station: 9498651927
4) Jolarpet Station: 77080 61811
Helpdesks have also been set up at Chennai Central, Katpadi and Jolarpettai stations.

Route changed, diversion of many trains
Due to this horrific train accident in Balasore, Odisha, routes of many trains have also been diverted. These trains had started the journey from their departure station. Now before reaching the destination, the route of these trains has been changed.

1. 15644 (Kamakhya-Puri) journey commencing on 01.06.23. This train will be diverted via Kharagpur-Tata Nagar-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Singapore road.
2. 12508 (Silchar-Thiruvananthapuram) journey commencing on 01.06.23. It will be diverted via Kharagpur-Tata Nagar-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Singapore road.
3. The journey of 22504 (Dibrugarh - Kanyakumari) has been started from 01.06.23. It will be diverted via Kharagpur-Tata Nagar-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Singapore road.
4. 12820 (Anand Vihar - Bhubaneswar) journey started on 02.06.23. It will be diverted via Netaji SC Bose junction Gomo-Anar-Chandil-Chakradharpur-Jaroli-Nayagarh.
5. 22812 (New Delhi-Bhubaneshwar) journey started on 02.06.23. It will be diverted via Gomoh-Anar-Chandil-Chakradharpur-Jharsuguda.
6. 12876 (Anand Vihar-Puri) journey started on 02.06.23. It will be diverted via Rajbera Block Hut-Bokaro Steel City-Purulia-Chandil-Songari-Dangoaposi-Jaroli-Nayagarh.
7. 22612 (New Jalpaiguri - Madras) train commencing on 02.06.23 will be diverted via Asansol - Anara - Chandil - Songri - Rourkela - Jharsuguda - Sambalpur - Singapore Road.
8. 07047 (Dibrugarh-Secunderabad) train commencing on 02.06.23 will be diverted via Bhatta Nagar-Kharagpur-Tata Nagar-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur-Singapore Road.

CM Naveen Patnaik announced one day state mourning
CM Naveen Patnaik has made a big announcement regarding the train accident that took place in Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore, Odisha. According to the announcement, on June 3, one day state mourning has been declared in the state. Therefore, no festival will be celebrated on June 3 in the entire state. The Information and Public Relations Department of Odisha has given this information.

So did the accident happen because of this?
According to the preliminary information, the engine of Coromandel Express has climbed over the goods train, which shows that the speed of the train was very high. The reason for the train accident has not been cleared yet, but both the trains had come on the same line. Now whose fault is it, it is being investigated.

Source : AajTak

The post Odisha Triple Train Accident Latest Update: Death Toll Rises To 237, Over 900 Injured; Compensation Announced appeared first on Rma News: Latest News, Live Breaking News, Today News, Political News Updates.