Manual bypassing of signal may have been behind Odisha train tragedy: report
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New Delhi: Manual bypassing of automated signaling system may have contributed to the train crash in Odisha, Reuters reported based on inputs from sources.
As investigation is underway in the June 2 crash at Bahanaga Bazar station, in Odisha’s Balasore, which killed 288 people and injured more than 1,000, officials are studying all potential reasons behind the accident.
The report by the news agency, based on inputs from three officials, suggests that bypassing of an automated system that guides train movement had to do with the accident.
It is reported that investigators from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) suspect that bypassing of the automated system may have been done by railway workers.
They must have done it to overcome ‘signaling hurdles’ stemming from malfunctioning barrier used at rail-road intersection stop traffic from the road.
However it is not yet known if the workers were authorized to bypass the system, if it at all happened as is reported.
Media reports following the train crash pointed at possible malfunction in signaling system.
The accident raised questions about safety of the world’s fourth largest train network even as the government is introducing rapid modernization of trains and stations.
A railway official told Reuters that tampering with automated system is not allowed during repair works that are usually happening.
Amitabh Sharma, chief information officer at the Railways Ministry reportedly said that speculations cannot be confirmed at ‘this juncture’, meaning investigation is underway.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also probing the possibility of a criminal negligence.
Some residents in Bahanaga village where the accident occurred said that the barrier at the railway crossing was repaired frequently as it had been faulty for three months.
The barrier often would get stuck in the closed position which the railway workers had to manually open, they told Reuters.
Soubhagya Ranjan Sarangi who runs a pharmacy shop near the railway crossing said that the electric barrier would sometimes go up and sometimes would not.
Nirajan Sarangi, a retired school teacher who was at the scene during the crash said the barrier would malfunction sometimes.
While believing in the theory of tampering the automated system, Railway authorities however are yet to ascertain if tampering was intentional or by mistake, said a source in railways.
Another source, according to the report, said that the signaling system was bypassed as the repair workers were trying to ‘fix the malfunctioning barrier’.