The death toll in the train accident near Kantakapalli in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh rose to 14, and the number of injured has gone up to 38, according to officials who apprised Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of the tragedy when he met the victims at a hospital in Vizianagaram on October 30. Railway officials, however, put the toll at 13 and the injured at 30.
It may be recalled that 08504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train hit the 08532 Visakhapatnam–Palasa passenger train from behind between the Kantakapalli and Alamanda stations on Sunday.
Also read: Andhra train accident LIVE updates on October 30, 2023
Railway officials primarily suspected that “overshot” was the main cause of the fatal accident that occurred near the Kantakapalli station, near here (about 40 km away), on the Chennai-Howrah main line.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior officer of the Waltair Railway Division said a train signal was said to have “overshot” (technically known as Signal Passing at Danger’ or SPAD) when the loco pilot ignores the red signal (danger) to stop the train.
Each signal is an indicator of the next signal and the situation of the railway track ahead. In the railway signal system, if the current signal is red, then the next signal may not be yellow or green as per normal traffic signals on the roads. There could be a double red signal, which indicates danger ahead and the driver should stop. In case of one red signal the driver should slow down and be cautious. There may be cases, where a red signal might appear, even after a yellow or green signal. So it is the duty of the loco pilot to observe the signals carefully and then move ahead.
“If the pilot drives the train ignoring these signals, it is called overshot and at times it does happen if the pilot does not apply the brakes at the right time before approaching the platform,’‘ the railway officer said.
Herculean task
The removal of the mangled coaches was a Herculean task for workers, and heavy duty cranes were deployed at the accident spot. The lack of power supply due to snapping of power lines and the darkness, and the accident spot being about a couple of km away from the main road, added to the woes of the workers engaged in relief operations.
Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Saurabh Prasad, who was monitoring the relief and rescue operations, told The Hindu at the accident spot on Monday: “The Palasa passenger train was going on the middle line and is said to have slowed down. In the meantime, the Rayagada passenger train overshot the signal and hit the Palasa passenger from behind. Three coaches of the Palasa passenger and the locomotive and two coaches of the Rayagada passenger were badly damaged and overturned and thrown beside the track.”
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“The data logger, speed recorder and other records have been seized. A full-fledged inquiry is being conducted to arrive at the exact cause of the accident,” he said. The Commissioner of Railway Staff (CRS) and other officials reached the spot.
“The KAVACH system is not available on both these trains,” the DRM said in response to a query. Experts say that if anti-collision KAVACH system was in place it could have helped avoid this very accident.
“In the past, a train used to be given the green signal when the train ahead crossed the station. Now, a train behind is being given the green signal, barely after the one ahead crosses 500 m. The speed in the section was also increased from 90 km/hr to 120 km/hr, and all these factors could have played a part in the accident,” opined railway sources.
“As it was a Sunday, the two trains were less crowded. Had it been a weekday, there would be more employees and students, and the toll could have been much higher,” the sources said, and expressed doubts about the theory that the loco pilot had jumped the signal, and said it could be a fault in the signalling system.
National Disaster Response Force and SDRF teams, railway and police personnel were involved in the relief operations. The NDRF team will conduct a final search inside out for the presence of bodies trapped in the mangled coaches.
East Coast Railway General Manager Manoj Sharma and other senior officials monitored the track restoration operations at the spot. The injured undergoing treatment include: 20 at Alamanda Primary Health Centre, 15 at the Vizianagaram Government Hospital, two at Medicover in Visakhapatnam and one at KGH in Visakhapatnam.
Meanwhile, the track was restored within a span of 20 hours, allowing for the resumption of train services. The first train passed on the down line, goods train, at 2.23 p.m. and the first train on the up line was the 18463 Bhubaneswar-KSR Bengaluru Prashanti express.
A PTI report said the guard of the Palasa passenger train M.S. Rao (58) died in the accident, along with the loco pilot, S.M.S. Rao (52), and his assistant, Chiranjeevi (29), of the Rayagada passenger train.
