Coromandel Express hitting the goods train is very unlikely, says the BJP leader

Coromandel Express hitting the goods train is very unlikely, says the BJP leader

Coromandel Express hitting the goods train is very unlikely, says the BJP leader

Even as the Railways has launched a high-level probe into the horrific train crash in Odisha's Balasore, in which more than 260 people died and around 900 others got injured, a debate on what led to the mishap has already begun on social media platforms.

The accident, involving three trains—Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train—is one of the worst in the country and took place on Friday night near the Bahanaga Bazar station about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.

Railway Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma had said that the Coromandel Express derailed first, and its 10-12 coaches fell on the line on which the Bengaluru-Howrah Express was travelling, forcing it to jump off the tracks. Some coaches of the Coromandel Express fell on top of a stationary goods train in an adjacent railway track.

However, senior BJP leader and former governor of Megalaya and Tripura, Tathagata Roy has given a different version of the accident. Roy, a former engineer at Railways, wrote in a Facebook post that the goods train might have derailed earlier and had listed towards the main line. The Coromandel hit this goods train and listed towards the opposite main line where it was hit by the Yeshwantpur Express, he said.

“I am an ex-Railwayman and was trying to fathom how exactly the terrible accident at Balasore took place. In the meantime some retarded 'secular' morons started yelling why I had not expressed my sorrow,” Roy said.

Expressing anguish over the accident, he said since this is a double line section run on the Absolute Block System, the Coromandel Express could hit against the goods train only if the driver disregarded the last signal of the previous station and entered the block section and drove at full speed.

“Very very unlikely. Actually the accident seems to have taken place in the station section, not the block section. What seemed to have happened (subject to inquiry) is that the goods train standing on the loop had derailed earlier and had listed towards the main line. Coromandel hit this goods train and listed towards the opposite main line where it was hit by the Yeshwantpur Express,” he said.

“I know this is too technical for non-Railwaymen.  Now the Commissioner of Railway Safety will hold a statutory inquiry and determine the cause. Meanwhile I just wanted to put my thoughts on record,” Roy further said.