Error in signaling system led to train crash that killed 275 people in India, official says

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Officials reported on Sunday that an error in the electronic signaling system, which caused a train to improperly switch tracks and collide with a freight train, led to the catastrophic train derailment in eastern India. The incident resulted in 275 fatalities and left hundreds injured.

Efforts to clean up the wreckage from the two passenger trains that derailed on Friday night were underway in Balasore district, Odisha state, marking one of India’s deadliest rail catastrophes in recent history.

Odisha government officials revised the death toll to 275, down from the initially estimated 300 announced earlier on Sunday by a high-ranking state official who wished to remain anonymous due to unauthorized communications with the press.

Jaya Verma Sinha, a senior railway authority, revealed that preliminary investigations indicate that a faulty signal led the high-speed Coromandel Express to run on the main track line. This signal later changed, causing the train to enter an adjacent loop line, where it collided with a freight train carrying iron ore.

The impact of the collision caused the Coromandel Express’s carriages to flip onto another track, which led to the derailment of the incoming Yesvantpur-Howrah Express from the opposite direction, Sinha added. The passenger trains, accommodating 2,296 people, were not exceeding speed limits, she clarified. The goods-carrying train was parked on an adjacent loop line, a common practice to keep the main line clear for passenger trains.

According to Verma, an error in the electronic signaling system was the primary cause of the crash. An in-depth investigation will determine if the error was due to human oversight or a technical glitch.

The electronic interlocking system, a safety feature designed to avoid conflicting movements among trains, also monitors signal statuses which inform drivers about their proximity to other trains, allowable speeds, and presence of stationary trains on the tracks.

“Although the system operates with 99.9% accuracy, there’s always a 0.1% possibility for an error,” Verma noted. She did not dismiss the idea of sabotage as a potential cause for the crash, stating that “nothing is ruled out.”

The crash site was strewn with the twisted remains of the train carriages by Sunday. Railway workers braved the heat to replace the broken tracks with cement blocks, and a team with excavators was tasked with removing the debris and mud from the site.

Survivors shared their chilling experiences from the crash. Inder Mahato, a pantry worker, recalled the loud noise he heard when the Coromandel Express collided with the freight train. He briefly lost consciousness due to the impact and woke up to find many passengers in pain or already dead. Rescuers pulled him out from the wreckage hours later, leaving him with a fractured sternum and the loss of four friends who perished in the crash.

In the aftermath of the incident, many relatives were left struggling to identify their loved ones due to the severity of injuries. Others searched hospitals hoping to find their relatives alive.

Meanwhile, at the hospital where Mahato was recovering, a distressed Bulti Khatun was in search of her husband who was a passenger on the Coromandel Express. Despite numerous visits to the morgue and other hospitals, she was yet to locate him.

Heavy cranes were utilized overnight to remove an engine that had settled on top of a rail car. Officials confirmed that the task was completed on Sunday morning without any additional bodies found in the engine.

The accident comes at a time when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is prioritizing the modernization of India’s British-era railroad network. Despite continuous safety improvements, hundreds of accidents still occur annually on India’s railways, the largest train network under a single management in the world. Prime Minister Modi expressed sympathy for the victims and assured that those responsible would face strict punishment.

Past incidents such as the 1995 collision near New Delhi that killed 358 people and the 2016 derailment between Indore and Patna, which claimed 146 lives, have often been attributed to human error or antiquated signaling equipment.

Every day, approximately 22 million people commute on India’s 14,000 trains traversing 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track.

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• Indian Railways
• History of Rail Accidents in India
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• Railway Safety in India
• Understanding Railway Signalling Systems