New Delhi: A high-level inquiry has identified “wrong signalling” as the main cause of the Balasore train accident and highlighted “lapses at multiple levels” in the Signaling and Telecommunications (S&T) department, but the implication It is that if this were so, this tragedy could have been avoided. Previous red flags were reported. The independent inquiry report submitted to the Railway Board by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) said that despite lapses in the signaling work, the S&T staff would have been asked if “repeated abnormal behaviour” of the switches connecting two parallel tracks had been reported. Corrective action could have been taken by to them by the Station Master of Bahnaga Bazar, the accident site.
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The inquiry report attributed the Balasore train accident to “wrong signalling” and cited “lapses at multiple levels” in the Signal and Telecommunications Department.
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The report states that the accident could have been prevented if the station manager had informed the S&T staff about the “repeated abnormal behaviour” of the switches connecting the parallel tracks.
The report states that “wrong wiring” by field supervisors resulted from not supplying an approved circuit diagram to replace the electric lifting barrier at level crossing gate 94.
The report states that a similar incident took place at Bankarnayabaz station on May 16, 2022 due to wrong wiring and cable fault and corrective measures were not taken.
292 people were killed and over 1000 were injured in the triple train accident on 2 June.
The report said that the initial response to a disaster should be faster and advised the Railways to review the disaster-response system and coordination with the NDRF and SDRF.
The report concluded that the rear-end collision was caused by a “signalling-circuit-change failure” carried out in the past during signaling work related to the northern signal ‘Gumti’ and at level crossing gate 94.
The report said that due to these flaws, the train number got the wrong signal. 12841 which collided with a goods train standing on the up loop line.
The report recommends updating wiring diagrams, other documents and lettering of the completion of signaling circuits at the site.
The report suggests following standard practices for signalling-modification work, making changes with approved circuit diagram and presence of officer, and deputing separate teams for checking and testing of modified signaling circuits and works.