Train crash: Error by freight train pilots under scanner

JAMSHEDPUR/RANCHI: Authorities probing the train accident Wednesday said they are looking into possible 'human error' as plausible reason for derailment of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail in Seraikela-Kharsawan district that left two dead and 18 injured.
The commissioner of railway safety, Brajesh Mishra (CRS) of South Eastern Railways (SER) team is looking how the loco pilots and guards of the clinker-laden goods train on the adjacent track, kept moving for over a kilometre, dragging one of its derailed wagons at the tail end.
'All aspects will be investigated'
The Mumbai Mail's engine grazed the wagon of the freight train and 17 of its coaches derailed between Raj Kharsawan and Barabambo stations on Tuesday.
"If the wagons had derailed, did the guard of the freight train inform the loco pilots about it? And if he did, did the pilots relay the same information to the nearest railway station so that preventive measures could be taken?" said a railway official, requesting anonymity.
The probe into the incident, which killed two passengers, will also look into whether the freight train was running as per its schedule and whether Mumbai Mail's pilots were over-speeding to make up for the delay of the train.
Besides the causes of the derailment of the freight train's wagons, the section of the railway tracks in which the incident occurred will also be inspected.
"We are investigating whether the loco pilots and the guard of the freight train informed the station master, and if at all yes, when they did so," another official added.
Om Prakash Charan, the chief public relations officer of SER, said the CRS arrived at the accident site on Tuesday itself and investigation has been underway since.
"All the aspects will be investigated. Sufficient time will be given to complete the probe, as the railways need to know the root cause of the incident so that such accidents can be averted," the chief public relations officer of SER said.