After a horrifying train accident in Odisha’s Balasore, India, preliminary investigation has revealed that minutes before the accident, the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express entered the loop line and hit a stationary goods train. The report suggested that instead of the main line, the train crashed into a goods train parked on the up loop line, just ahead of the Bahanaga Bazar railway station. The coaches of SMVP-Howrah Superfast Express capsized after crashing into the coaches of Coromandel Express that had scattered on the adjacent track after hitting the goods train. At least 288 people lost their lives in the accident that has been one of the deadliest train accidents in over two decades.
According to the report, the signal for Coromandel Express was given to pass through the up mainline, and then taken off for up mainline with the goods train on the up loop line. However, the report does not mention the reason why the signal was given and taken off for the Coromandel Express. Railway officials have submitted the preliminary investigation report to the Railway Board, and senior officials have declined to provide any further details about it.
While a railway source suggested it was a mechanical error, the Railway Board has initiated a detailed inquiry to determine the cause of the accident. The incident has brought back the memories of another deadly collision between the Purushottam Express and Kalindi Express in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad on August 20, 1995, which claimed 358 lives, and the Brahmaputra Mail and Awadh-Assam Express collision on August 2, 1999, near Gaisal in Assam, killing approximately 290 people.
As the investigation into the Balasore train accident continues, authorities are working to improve train safety measures and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
