A Commission of Rail Safety (CRS) report has found that the June 2 train collision in Odisha's Balasore district could have been averted if due procedures had been followed. The report, which has been accessed by The Hindu, pins the fault on the Signal and Telecom (S&T) Department, which was conducting repair work on the day of the accident.
The report found that an undetected fault in the wiring in the location box near Bahanaga Bazaar Railway Station had not been noticed by S&T staff in the past five years. This fault led to the points on the track being set incorrectly, which caused two trains to collide head-on.
The report also found that the S&T Department had not been conducting regular checks on the location box. These checks are supposed to be carried out every two months, but the last time the location box was checked was in January 2023.
The report has recommended that the S&T Department be more vigilant in conducting regular checks on location boxes. It has also recommended that the Railways introduce a system of automatic checks on location boxes. The June 2 train collision in Balasore was one of the deadliest train accidents in India in recent years. The collision killed 24 people and injured over 100 others.
The CRS report is a damning indictment of the S&T Department. It shows that the department was negligent in its duties and that this negligence led to a deadly accident. The report also raises serious questions about the safety of India's railway network.
It is important that the Railways take the findings of the CRS report seriously and take steps to improve safety on its network. This includes ensuring that regular checks are carried out on all location boxes and introducing a system of automatic checks. The Railways also needs to invest in better training for its S&T staff.
Only by taking these steps can the Railways prevent another deadly train accident from happening.
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