Here’s how Odisha trains collision occurred: Indian railway officials give minute-by-minute details

The Indian Railways Board has said that the horrific train accident that killed 275 passengers and left 900 injured in eastern Odisha state was due to an issue with the signal and that a passenger train, Coromandel Express, had gotten into the accident.

Addressing a press conference in the capital New Delhi, Jaya Varma Sinha, Member of Operation and Business Development, explained how the events led to India’s deadliest train accidentin 20 years.

Sinha said that the functioning of the interlocking system, prima facie, may have been part of the problem.

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The railway official said that only Coromandal Express, which was travelling at a speed of around 128 kilometre per hour (128 km/h), had an accident. Sinha said the direction, route and signal were set for the Coromandel Express.

She, however, asserted that their finds are preliminary in nature, and a detailed assessment on the issue is awaited.

According to her, the accident took place near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, Odisha, around 7 pm (local time) on Friday.

The crash involved three trains —Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express (12862), Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express (12841), and a goods train.

“The site where the accident happened had two main lines and two loop lines on both sides,” she said.

The main lines were clear for the passage of these superfast trains and the loop lines were occupied by two goods trains.

Minute-by-minute details

At 6.40 pm, Coromandel Express left Balasore for Bhadrakh in Odisha. At 6.52 pm, the train approached Bahanaga station after the green signal.

At 6.55 pm, Yesvantpur-Howrah Express, another train which was coming from the other direction on the second line, approached the Bahanaga station.

However, Coromandel Express, which was supposed to continue on the main line, accidentally changed the course and entered the loop line, on which a freight train laden with iron ore was already halted, and hit the goods train.

Odisha Train Tragedy | Indian Railways: 129 trains cancelled, 81 trains diverted

She said that Coromandel Express ‘was not over-speeding’ and received the green signal to enter a loop line on which a goods train was stationary.

Due to its full speed, the impact of the collision was very high, leading to the derailment of many coaches of Coromandel Express. A few coaches turned turtle and crashed with the last three coaches of Yesvantpur-Howrah Express, which was passing on the other main line.

“Only one train was involved in the accident, it was the Coromandel Express. The Coromandel Express crashed with the goods train and its coaches went on top of the goods train. It was an iron ore-laden train, a heavy train, therefore the entire impact of the collision was on the train,” she added.

Interlocking signal at fault?

Electronic interlocking is a set up of signal apparatus that avoids conflicting movements between running trains by an arrangement of tracks. Basically, it is a safety measure that stops signals from getting changed in improper sequence.

The officials claimed that the system is both "error proof and tamper proof".

"It is called a fail-safe system, it means that even if it fails, all the signals will turn red and all train operations will stop. Now, as the minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) said there was a problem with the signalling system. It could be a physical error, whereby someone has done some digging without seeing the cables," Sinha said, PTI news agency reported.

(With inputs from agencies)

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