Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday ordered an enquiry into the Patna-Indore Express derailment that has claimed the lives of over 120 passengers. Commissioner Railway Safety (Northern region) will carry out the probe.
“Enquiry team will start investigation into cause of accident immediately. All necessary assistance provided to the affected, we are taking care,” Prabhu said after visiting the accident site along with the top Railway Board officials, including the Chairman Railway Board AK Mital.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, who also visited the accident site, said that it seemed the cause of the accident was rail fracture. “Member (Engineering) of the Railway Board will find out the cause of the accident and action will be taken against those responsible,” he said.
According to technical experts in the railways, though the exact cause of the rail tragedy will be known after the enquiry, the possibility of rail fracture could not be ruled out. Casualties also increased due to absence of modern linke Holfmann Bush (lHB) coaches in the train.
“Had there been stainless steel lHB coaches, then the damage could have been less as these coaches have more in-built safety features which can absorb shock and impact of derailment more effectively and as a result do not topple,” explained the expert. Though railways have decided to replace all conventional coaches with modern lHB coaches gradually, the process will take time.
This is the second derailment of train in two days as the four coaches of the Bhatinda-Jodhpur passenger train derailed on Saturday, leaving a dozen passengers injured in Rajasthan.
Prabhu recently launched TMS (track maintenance service) software to monitor track maintenance round-the-clock. Despite the minister’s directive, the access to TMS is still denied to safety wing. “As a result, the monitoring mechanism becomes a closely guarded secret defeating the very purpose of the launching of the software application,” said a railway official.
The accident also comes at a time when railways are undertaking a massive brainstorming exercise in Surjakund to generate new innovative ideas to improve functioning and making the train journey a pleasant experience.
Poor track maintenance including lack of proper fittings and ballast on the railway lines causes fracture on the tracks. While a simple crack on track may not be of much concern, a severe fracture causing separation of the track could lead to derailment of trains.
According to railway engineering department responsible for track maintenance, extreme weather condition is the primary reason for rail fractures. While the track breaks due to coefficient of linear expansion in summer, the same happens in winter due to contraction.