Mumbra train accident occurred as railway staffers left replaced piece of track unwelded: Police

Mumbai: Police probing the June 9 Mumbra train accident, which claimed five lives, have found that railway staffers had replaced a piece of track involved in the incident four days prior to it, but left it unwelded that led to the tragedy.

The uneven track led to a train running on it tilting towards an adjacent track that ultimately resulted in passengers falling down, the FIR registered by the Government Railway Police (GRP), which is probing the case, said. The railway officials and staffers concerned had an idea that the replaced piece of track was left unwelded, it said.

The incident occurred between Diva and Mumbra railway stations in neighbouring Thane district when the trains, one headed to Kasara and the other towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai, were passing each other at a sharp curve (near the Mumbra station). Some commuters on the footboard of the coaches fell onto the tracks after their backpacks brushed against each other, as per the police.

A case was registered on November 1 against assistant divisional engineer Vishal Dolas, senior section engineer Samar Yadav and other railway officers and employees, who had the responsibility of maintenance of the railway tracks.

They were booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 125(a)(b) (acts endangering life or personal safety of others) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The Thane GRP had earlier registered an accidental death case. The FIR registered by the GRP said, "Due to heavy rainfall, the drain adjoining platform number 4 at the Mumbra railway station got choked. As a result, water accumulated on the tracks of platform numbers 3 and 4 near Mumbra station and the gravel beneath the railway tracks got washed away.

" The lashing pads (rail pads) came off and the ground beneath the platform and the railway tracks sank. After midnight on June 5, a piece of rail on track number 4 near the station was replaced, but welding was not done, the FIR said. At section 28 on the Up through railway track near the station, track on one side was in a lower position, while that on the other side was in a higher position as welding was not done. Dolas, Yadav and other railway officials and employees, who had the responsibility of its maintenance, had an idea that welding was not done, the FIR said.

On June 6, Dolas and Yadav had obtained a caution order to railway track attention work and as per that order, they had planned to do maintenance work between Up through and Down through poles, but till the time of accident they did not carry out any maintenance work, an official said.

Executive engineer of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) had informed Dolas about carrying out maintenance work of the drain, which was under the railway track. It was necessary to carry out the work on an urgent basis, but the railway officials failed to do it, he said.

One side of track number 4 was at a higher position, while the other side in a lower position, due to which the suburban local (involved in the incident and passing from that track) got tilted towards adjacent track number 3, leaving a narrow gap between the two tracks. The trains running on them came very close to each other, which led to the accident, he said.

"Due to no maintenance, the tracks were disturbed and the speed of the local train, which was required to be kept at 69.4 kmph, was actually 75 kmph," he added. A team of Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) technical analysis had also confirmed in its finding that the accident had occurred due to not doing the maintenance work on the railway track, according to the official.