Bahanaga Train Tragedy: CRS Report Finds Multiple Lapses, Station Master At Fault

Bhubaneswar: The forty page inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety into the Bahanaga Railway tragedy has found serious lapses at multiple levels as the main reason for the accident in which more than 290 people died. The report states that the triple-train collision happened due to lapses in the signaling-circuit alteration carried out at the Bahanaga Bazar station, which resulted in wrong signal to Coromandel Express. The report also says thet the accident could have been avoided if the Railways had paid heed to a technical fault of the same nature that occurred earlier.

The report also says that the collision could have been averted if the station master had reported the “repeated unusual behaviour” of signals at the crossover point through which the south-bound
Coromandel Express wrongly entered the loopline and crashed into the stationary goods train,. The report reads, “Notwithstanding the lapses in signalling work… they could have traced the false feed extending to the electronic interlocking logic for circuit of crossover 17 A/B),”. It also points to the multiple failures of signal and telecom (S&T) department. The Report says indicates that the Station master failed to notice of the signal abnormality at the station. After station master S B Mohanty switched on the signal to change its status, it should have taken 14 seconds for that to happen, the report says. But the signal changed instantly, which was abnormal. “Notwithstanding the lapses in signalling work, if the SM/BNBR [station master] had informed the repeated unusual behaviour of the crossover 17 A/B [the loop line—main UP line interface] to the S & T staff, they could have traced the false feed extending to the EI logic for the circuit for crossover 17 A/B.”the report said.