Preliminary report on Kanchanjunga train crash blames goods train crew

Initial findings of officials present at the site of the Kanchanjunga Express accident suggest that the loco pilot and crew of the goods train that rear-ended the passenger train were at fault for the crash, according to a joint observation note by six officials.

The observation note is a standard procedure after any train accident and does not amount to a probe, railway officials clarified. The official investigation is being undertaken by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).

The accident, which took place near the New Jalpaiguri station, killed nine and injured 41 people, including the guard of the Kanchanjunga Express and the loco pilot of the goods train behind, after it crashed into the Kanchanjunga Express, damaging two parcel coaches, in the absence of which the accident could have had a more dire impact.

 

While five officials placed the primary responsibility for the crash on the loco pilot, assistant loco pilot, and train manager of the container train, a dissenting note by an official said that since there was a signal failure on all automatic and semi-automatic signals, the section should have been treated as an absolute block section.

Under the absolute block system, no train can be allowed to enter a section until the preceding train has fully exited the section.

No secondary responsibility was identified by the on-ground officials in their observation note, officials aware of the matter said.

The majority opinion held that the accident may have occurred due to non-following of rules regarding passing automatic signals at danger position and possible excessive speed of the goods train at the time of the collision.

Earlier, railway board chairman and chief executive officer Jaya Varma Sinha had said that the loco pilot, Anil Kumar, had disregarded the signal, and railway unions had objected to her statement claiming it was premature.

Meanwhile, the eastern railway had issued a circular in which it said that the zone would no longer issue T/A 912 memos to loco pilots until further orders. However, late on Thursday night, the zonal railway announced that the order had been issued erroneously and it had withdrawn it.

A T/A 912 is issued when automatic signal systems fail on a particular route for a number of reasons. Since the system is failsafe, the signal turns red, and the station master manually allows trains to pass, albeit at a restricted speed.