JOIN USRail officials suspect brake failure as the cause of train accident at Rai Bareli that killed scores on Friday.
They are maintaining that ground-level circumstances indicate an attempt by the driver to apply brake. “It seems he failed in his efforts,” said officials.
“The station master of Bachrawan station did not have any choice other than to divert the train to a dead line. It was running at a high speed, and not showing any sign of stopping at the station. The train would have collided with another train coming from the opposite direction had it been on the main line. This is a single-track route,” said sources.
The ill-fated Dehradun-Varanasi Express has conventional-type coaches that are prone to accidents, and this is the reason behind the number of casualties.
However, the ministry maintained that it was a case of overshooting of signals. Railways spokesman Anil Saxena told reporters that Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner (Railway Safety) of Northern Railways.
“Saddened” by the accident, Prabhu indirectly held the previous regime responsible for the accident.
“Neglect of past or limited budget resource can't be the reason for accidents, though
it takes some time to neutralise past inaction. We will (sic),” he tweeted soon after of accident.
He also stressed the need for modernisation in railways, tweeting: “This budget I focused on safety as I feel saddened by loss of life and injuries to our valued passengers. We must modernise crumbling infra (sic).”
The rail minister could not rush to the accident site because he had a question day and voting on bills in the Rajya Sabha.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, Chief of Railway Board A K Mittal and some other officials visited the site. The rail minister said he was constantly in touch with officials deployed at the accident site.
Meanwhile, President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended their condolences on the loss of lives.