Coromandel Express Accident: Reverse interlocking of signal and track reverses train in Odisha

The prima facie cause of the Coromandel train accident has come to the fore. In the preliminary investigation of the railway, the reason for the failure of the interlock and signal system is being considered. Five railway officials have told in their report that the upline signal was first given to the 12841 Coromandel Express train and then withdrawn. Meanwhile, instead of going on the up line, it went on the loop line and boarded the standing goods train. Its 21 coaches derailed. Point 17A was found to be set for the loop line.

At the same time, the 12864 Bangalore-Howrah Superfast train was passing on the third line here and its last three coaches collided with the coach of Coromandel Express. The biggest thing is that it has been found in the investigation that all the points of the upline were found to be in normal condition. No point damage was done. The signal was of upline but the interlocking of the railway track was on a loop line and the interlocking on the monitor was showing for upline only. This became the cause of the accident.

A similar incident happened on February 7, 2023, as well, but the Railways might not have learned from it. A similar incident took place on South Western Railway near Hoshdurga station but due to the alertness of the driver, the incident was saved from turning into an accident. 19649 Sampark Kranti Express also received the signal on 7 February 2023 in the same way but the driver realized that the signal has been received but the train is going in the loop line from Point No. 65A and then stopped immediately. The then PCOM Harishankar Verma had issued instructions to correct the interlocking and signal system after a thorough investigation. A senior railway official says that if he had paid attention to this mistake and tried to correct it, he would not have had to see this day after four months.

The speed of the train was 128 km per hour when the Coromandel Express collided with the goods train on the loop line, while the speed of a train on the loop line has been fixed at 30 to 40 km per hour. This is the reason that the engine of the train climbed at its full speed on the goods train. The train started at 6.55 pm at a speed of 128 kmph and after 23 seconds its speed became zero. This means that the pilot of the train had used the emergency brake system.

The protection system installed in trains works to prevent head-on collisions of the train. It is not designed for system-side cogeneration. Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said that the armor system is not working on this route. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee has questioned the absence of armor on this route.