Cause of Darjeeling train accident unclear; goods train did not follow protocol, says railway

KOLKATA: The cause of the Darjeeling train accident that happened Monday morning is yet to be ascertained. There were reports that there was a lapse from the side of the loco pilot of the goods train. However, the Loco Pilots' Association said that they will not allow the loco pilot to be held guilty until the investigation is completed.

Railway officials said the goods train was travelling above the permissible limit at the time of the accident. In case of signal failure as per protocol TA 912 the loco pilots should stop for a minute at each defective signal and proceed at a maximum speed of 10 kmph only.

However, at the time of the accident, the goods train driver violated these critical conditions. There are also reports that the Kanchenjunga Express complied with the legal conditions. According to the preliminary investigation report, it is difficult to find the actual cause of the accident. A TA 912 warning was given to the goods train by the station master at Rangapani.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has started an inquiry into the cause of the accident. Nine people were killed and 41 injured when a goods train collided with the Kanchenjunga Express. The Kanchenjunga Express, which was traveling from Silchar in Assam to Sealdah in Kolkata, was hit by a goods train from behind as it neared Rangapani station near New Jalpaiguri. Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav visited the accident site. He had announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the dead and Rs 2.5 lakh to those seriously injured.