Cuttack: Railways on Sunday announced the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) will conduct a detailed inquiry into the derailment of the Bengaluru-Kamakhya AC Express (12551) at Manguli-Choudwar passenger halt in Cuttack district.
Ashoka Kumar Mishra, chief public relations officer, East Coast Railway (ECoR), said the CRS, South Eastern Circle (Kolkata), Brijesh Mishra, would inspect the derailment site on Sunday night.
Although the actual reason for the derailment is yet to be ascertained by the railway authorities, it is suspected that it occurred because of a faulty section of the track where maintenance work was underway.
Madan Mohan Patnaik, former deputy chief operation manager, ECoR, said various safety inspections should be carried out to reduce such accidents. “Such derailments occur if there are some defects in tracks or mechanical problems,” he added.
He said regular inspections should be carried out for coach and track maintenance. “Periodical training and sensitisation are needed for the people engaged in track and coach maintenance. Surprise inspections should be done to check whether the staff are properly following the laid down procedures,” he added.
Patnaik said under-gear inspections are required to be done perfectly and emphatically. “Random checks should be carried out to find out if the coaches, tracks and other systems are perfect for running,” he added.
He said train derailment can occur due to track fractures and welding failure. “If work was going on at the site, railways should have taken all precautions for operating trains on the route. Engineering and safety officials can take surprise checks at the work sites for review,” he added.
On June 2, 2023, as many as 296 people died in the train accident at Bahanaga in Balasore district. “Railways took several steps, including the Kavach system, to stop train accidents in the region after Bahanaga. But accidents keep happening across the country. It should be stopped,” said Nirakar Das, a retired railway officer.