Loco pilots suspect poor track maintenance for train accident

Two days after the Bengaluru-Ernakulum Express derailed near Anekal in Bengaluru Urban district, snuffing out nine lives and injuring over 40 passengers, the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) on Sunday blamed the poor maintenance of tracks as the probable cause of accident.

A day before the accident, a rail breakage was reported by a loco pilot working on the same section of the track where the incident took place.

After maintenance, the track was declared fit to run at a permitted speed of 80 kmph, AILRSA said in a statement released to the media here.

The association said that the loco pilot of the ill-fated train was not at fault and neither had the derailment taken place due to application of brakes.

The loco pilot was running at a speed of 63 kmph, where as the permitted speed was 80 kmph.

 The brake force during normal brake application and emergency brake application remains the same and only the time for application of brakes is reduced in case of emergency, it claimed.

“So the question of excessive/emergency application does not arise and will not cause any derailment. Moreover, emergency brake application takes place automatically, when pipes between coaches get disconnected,” said the statement.

The association said that if boulders were present on the tracks, it might have damaged the engine rail guards before derailing the coaches and no such damages for the engine were visible after the accident.

The AILRSA demanded a fair inquiry into the accident so that right causes could be ascertained and such mishaps could be avoided in future.

Statutory inquiry
The Railways has already initiated a statutory inquiry into the derailment. The Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru, Sateesh Kumar Mittal will hold a statutory inquiry for two days from February 17 at the Divisional Railway Manager’s office in Bengaluru.

 The Railways has also invited members of public to give evidence in case they have any about the accident.