Why rail panel report called Kanchenjunga Exp that killed 10 ‘accident-in-waiting’

"His soul can now rest in peace," said Roshni Kumar, wife of Anil Kumar, the loco pilot of the goods train that rear-ended the Kanchanjungha Express near the New Jalpaiguri station in north Bengal last month. The accident left 10 dead and 43 injured.The Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) recently released its provisional findings in the Kanchanjungha Express accident on June 17 in which it pointed to wrong authority letters issued to loco pilots on negotiating defective signals and operational lapses at “multiple levels” following the failure of automatic signals.CRS grimly noted that this was an “accident-in-waiting”, citing how improper authority letters were issued at the zonal level to loco pilots and that too without adequate information. The report, although provisional, has virtually exonerated the goods train loco pilot Kumar, who was initially faulted by railway authorities, while pointing a finger at ambiguity in rules to be followed in cases of failure of automatic signals, the Rangapani station master and senior authorities in Katihar ivision.Immediately after the mishap, fingers were pointed at the goods train pilot with Railway Board chairperson Jaya Verma Sinha and other railway officials claiming that Kumar had disregarded signals and this led to the accident.With the CRS report clearing Kumar, his family said they had been vindicated. “My husband was blamed for the accident within hours of the train collision. Still mourning his death, we were shocked to hear Anil being held responsible even before the inquiry had begun. But we are glad that Railways has conducted a proper inquiry and cleared him. His soul can now rest in peace,” his widow Roshni said.111815137No walkie-talkies for loco pilot, guardCRS said the ‘paper authority’ issued to loco pilots of trains operating between Rangapani and Chatterhat on that day when automatic signals had failed did not mention the speed limit that drivers were supposed to follow while crossing defective signals.Also, the loco pilot and the train manager were not provided with walkie-talkies, which could have ensured better communication. The loco pilot was among those killed in the accident in West Bengal’s Darjeeling districtOn the role of the loco pilot of the goods train that collided with Kanchanjungha Express, the report said authority letter (T/A 912) was given to him to pass all mentioned defective signals without any caution order. “This created an impression in the mind of loco pilot that all defective signals can be passed at maximum permissible speed of the section,” it said.The maximum speed of the section was 110 kmph. The goods train was moving at 78 kmph and when the loco pilot spotted the Kanchanjungha Express he applied the emergency brakes, but couldn’t decelerate below 40 kmph and ended up rear-ending the Kanchanjungha Express, which had stopped. The report noted that Kumar had adjusted the throttle 10 times in 5 minutes, indicating his alertness.medium111815146Automatic block signalling not followedThe report pointed out that on the day of the crash, officials should have treated the signalling failure — reported at 5.50am — as a “major signal failure” and followed automatic block signalling (ABS). In this system, only one train is allowed to stay between two stations. No other train is supposed to enter the stretch until the preceding one has reached next station.In this case, not declaring the automatic block signal meant the station master at Rangapani allowed the goods train to enter the section without confirming with the Chatterhat station master whether Kanchanjungha Express had crossed. The Rangapani station master also issued the wrong authority letter (T/A 912, which does not have any speed restrictions, instead of T/B 912, which limits speed to 25kmph) to loco pilots of the two trains involved in the accident, as well as five other trains preceding them.The railway safety regulator also found that besides these two trains, five other trains had entered the said section since the signals turned defective on that day, each following different speeds while passing defective signals.“It is evident that the understanding of loco pilots regarding action to be taken when T/A 912 is issued is not clear to them. Some loco pilots have followed the 15kmph rule while most loco pilots did not follow this rule. The absence of proper authority and that too without adequate information created misinterpretation and misunderstanding about the speed to be followed,” the report said. It also mentioned that no caution order was issued to the loco pilots by the station master.As per the findings, only Kanchanjungha Express followed the norm of moving at a max speed of 15kmph and stopping for a minute at each defective signal while the remaining six trains, including the goods train, didn’t follow this norm.Improve reliability of automatic signalling systemGoing forward, CRS has recommended the national transporter “improve reliability” of the system. The CRS, in its report said that there were 275 failures in the automatic signalling section of just Katihar Division since its commissioning in January 2023 to June 20, 2024. It said a large number of signaling failures in the automatic signalling section “is defeating the very purpose of mobility enhancement and causing safety concerns”.Referring to the 208 instances of signal passing at danger (SPAD) between April 2019 and March 2024, out of which 12 cases resulted in collision, the safety regulator said this highlights limitations of preventive measures taken by Zonal Railways (counselling of loco pilot, assistant loco pilots and drives).It has recommended expediting the roll out of anti-train collision system, Kavach.medium111815175Meanwhile, the Railway Board has instructed all zones to standardise training programmes for loco pilots operating in automatic signalling areas. It has specified one-day intensive counselling sessions based on an automatic signalling system for loco pilots and their assistants every six months.It said the counselling focus should be on working procedures, especially in automatic signalling territories and relevant forms should be issued for abnormal operations with speed restrictions. The loco pilots will be shown animated videos which highlight common crew mistakes.Inputs from Tamaghna Banerjee, Roshan Gupta