Farakka express: enquiry shows glitch in guiding system

New Farakka Express derailment last week in Uttar Pradesh due to the failure of mechanical installation on tracks, which guides trains from one track to the other, says preliminary enquiry report.

Five people died and around 30 were injured when five coaches of the train derailed near Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh on October 10.

As per the probe report of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS), the reason behind the derailment was that it was given a green signal despite the point failure.

A point is at the juncture of two tracks - only when it creates a path for the train, a signal is given to it to go ahead.

In this case, despite the point of failure, the train was given a green signal, the report says.

The commissioner of railway safety has suggested that the railways should decide a reasonable time as well as a reasonable number of attempts after which a point, not responding to the command given from contrail panel, is to be declared as failed.

The CRS listed measures that should be taken to avoid tampering of signalling circuit.

The Commission also recommended that drivers should be trained to use the independent loco brake in case of an emergency only when it is completely unavoidable. Emergency breaks must not be used on turns and curves as this may exert excessive unbalanced forces due to the momentum of the trailing load, the report said.

The CRS is expected give final report in a couple of months.