Andhra train accident Experts say CRS report shows railway officials turn a blind eye to violations

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Some railway safety experts, loco pilot bodies and trade union office-bearers have primarily blamed senior railway operating officials for the collision of two trains on October 29 last year in the Waltair Division of the East Coast Railway in which 17 people including three railway employees were killed.
    While referring to the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) report, they said that the investigation clearly shows that three trains overshot two defective signals prior to the accident on that day and the senior operating officials overlooked these violations.
    In the accident, Train No 08504 (VSKP-RGDA Passenger) running at the speed of around 82 kmph jumped two signals and hit Train No 08532 (VSKP-PAS Passenger) which was running on the same line at 16 kmph speed.
    The report, submitted to the Railway Board recently, primarily held the deceased train driver and assistant driver (both of train no 08504) responsible for overshooting the red signal and hitting the preceding train.
    It fixed the secondary responsibility on the operating department of Waltair Division including the station masters of two stations -- Kantakapalli (KPL) and Alamanda (ALM) -- between which the collision took place.
    "Clearly, this accident could have been averted if (apart from inaction by crew members) operating station staff been following existing rules or/and Divisional Operating Officials been monitoring such violations. Lack of clarity of rules added to the problem," the CRS said in its report.
    It added that at least three other trains jumped the defective signals on the same day prior to the accident. It added that a similar type of auto signal failure in the same section had occurred 14 days ago and three trains ran at higher than prescribed speed in violation of norms.
    "The data logger device records these violations and a report is generated. It shows that no one paid any heed to these violations. Had an action been taken in the first case, this accident wouldn't have happened," said KP Arya, who retired as Chief Signal and Telecom Engineer/Information Technology, Northern Railway.
    "Systematic approaches to safety issues are completely non-existent in Railways," Arya added.
    Sanjay Pandhi, the working president of the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), raised serious objections to the CRS report for holding deceased train drivers primarily responsible.
     It is against the law to hold dead persons responsible, he said.
    He said that when violations become a norm then holding loco pilots, who lost their lives in the accident, is sad and discouraging.
    "The CRS report said that the drivers violated the signal aspects because the station master told them on walkie talkie to do so. The written norms say that the loco pilots should not overshoot the red signal but the practical aspect is very different in railways. Drivers follow orders because if they don't do so they are harassed on one pretext or the other," Pandhi said.
    He pointed out one of the CRS findings that the main cause leading to the accident was the lack of action by the operating departments.
    According to the CRS report, "Badly drafted SRs (subsidiary rules) led to lack of clarity on what to do in case of auto signal failure by both operating and crew especially in case of multiple signal failures and also which rule would be applicable in sections having 3rd line. There is also some confusion about speed."
    Pandhi added, "The operating department of Waltair division should take the blame and strict action should be taken against senior divisional operating manager for remaining mute spectators to the continuous overlooking of all safety protocols."
    Ashok Sharma, Assistant General Secretary, National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), is of the view that the CRS report shows that the accident was waiting to happen because the rail administration including the senior officers responsible for safe operation of trains failed to perform their duties.
    "The station masters often try to release the trains from their section to another section as soon as possible to minimise train detention and improve punctuality aspects. They often adopt shortcut methods. This kind of mindset encourages them to give priority to punctuality over safety,” Sharma said, adding that senior officials overlook these aspects.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)