Odisha Train Tragedy: Possible Sabotage Being Probed As Driver Error Ruled Out, Minister Says 'Root Cause' Identified

The Ministry of Railway on Sunday ruled out driver error and system malfunction in the Odisha train tragedy, indicating the possibility of sabotage and tampering of the electronic interlocking system that caused the accident. 

Three trains were involved in one of the deadliest rail disasters in India on Friday evening. It occured at Balasore in Odisha. At least 275 persons were killed in the accident and over 1,100 were injured. 

Whhile two passenger trains derailed, coaches of a derailed train also collided into a goods train at the site. 

Meanwhile, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the "root cause" and the "criminals" responsible for the tragedy have been identified.

"It happened due to a change made in the electronic interlocking and point machine," said Vaishnaw at the site of the crash in Balasore.

Top officials explain what led to the accident

In Delhi, top railway officials explained how the point machine and the interlocking system function.

They said the system is "error proof" and "fail safe" but did not rule out the possibility of outside intervention.

"It is called a fail safe system, so it means that even if it fails, all the signals will turn red and all train operations will stop. Now, as the minister said there was a problem with the signalling system. It could be that someone has done some digging without seeing the cables. Running of any machine is prone to failures," said Jaya Verma Sinha, Member of Operation and Business Development, Railway Board.

A senior railway official who did not want to be identified said this kind of tinkering with the "logic" of the AI-based electronic interlocking system can only be "intentional" and ruled out any malfunction in the system.

Vaishnaw also said that the Commissioner of Railway Safety has completed an investigation and the report is awaited.

"It could be a case of tampering or sabotage from within or from outside. We have not ruled anything out," said Vaishnaw.

Explaining how the two components mentioned by Vaishnaw are key to train operations, Sandeep Mathur, Principal Executive Director of Signalling, Railway Board, said that these two work in coordination to show the driver whether the track is clear to move forward.

He said, "Signal is interlocked in such a manner that it will show if the line ahead is occupied or not. It will also be known whether the point is taking a train straight or towards loop line. When the point shows straight and the track ahead is not occupied then the signal is green and if the point is taking the train on loop and track is clear then signal is yellow and the route is shown of a different direction."

Mathur said that the interlocking system is a safe way to guide a train out of a station.

A point machine is a vital device for railway signalling for quick operation and locking of point switches and plays an important role in the safe running of trains. Failure of these machines severely affects train movement.

Tempering is possible: Preliminary report

A preliminary report from the ground accessed by PTI on Friday indicated that a tampering could have occurred.

The report stated that the signal was "given and taken off for the up main line for train number 12841 (Coromandel Express), the train entered the loop line, dashed the goods train and derailed. In the meantime, train number 12864 passed through the down main line and two of its coaches derailed and capsized".

Officials on Sunday also gave the driver of the Coromandel Express (Coromandel Express) a clean chit by stating that he had the green signal to move forward and he was "not over-speeding".

Sinha said that the direction, route, and signal were set for the Coromandel Express.

She said, "Green signal means that in every way the driver knows that his path ahead is clear and he can go forward with his permitted maximum speed. The permitted speed at this section was 130 kmph and he was running his train at 128 kmph which we have confirmed from loco logs."

The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express train was running at a speed of 126 kmph.

Sinha dded, "In both the trains there was no question of over-speeding. Preliminary finding has found that there is a signalling issue. 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 train, a heavy train, therefore entire impact of the collision was on the train."

It was a fraction of a second that last two coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah train crashed with the coaches of the Coromandel Express, said Sinha.

What did Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw say?

The root cause of the three-train crash in Odisha's Balasore district and the people responsible for it have been identified, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday.

Vaishnaw also said the Railways is aiming to restore normal services on the affected tracks by Wednesday.

Talking to reporters at the accident site, Vaishnaw said the issue is of electric point machine, a vital device for railway signalling, and electronic interlocking.

The change that was made to electronic interlocking which led to the accident has been identified, Vaishnaw said while denying that the incident had anything to do with the anti-collision system "Kavach".

Vaishnaw said, "The enquiry into the accident has been completed and as soon as the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) provides his report all the details will be known. The root cause of the horrifying incident has been identified... I do not want to go into details. Let the report come out. I will just say that the root cause and the people responsible have been identified."

(With PTI inputs)