The Ministry of Railways have deleted the reference made to loco pilots “engrossed in watching a cricket match on their mobile phones” in the Vizianagaram train accident in safety circulars issued later which banned the crew from using Bluetooth headsets, official sources said on Wednesday.
The issue pertains to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement made in New Delhi on March 3, 2024, that train accident “happened because both the loco pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match which was going on.”
He was referring to the tragic rear-end collision of Train No 08504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger with Train No 08532 Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger between Kantakapalle and Alamanda railway stations in Waltair Division of East Coast Railway in Andhra Pradesh on October 29, 2023, which left 17 people, including the loco pilot and his assistant, dead and 34 others injured.
