Shaken to the core by the rail mishap involving Coromandel Express, Railway Board is going for a massive exercise to take stock of its signal assets throughout the country, especially against the backdrop of Data Loggers not reflecting any errors. In the immediate aftermath of the smash-up involving Coromandel Express with the stationary goods train and passing Howrah Express, investigations were conducted to determine the cause of the mishap. A primary estimate is that the point was set for loopline for Coromandel Express while the signal to the train crew was for mainline. However, when the investigators set about finding the fault, to their utter surprise, that points at Data Loggers’ failure. In addition, the panel did not show any mix-up that is suspected to have caused one of the deadly mishaps, says an internal memo of the Railways. Disturbed by the findings, top officials of Signal&Telecom Department at Railway Board got into huddle from which emerged some disturbing questions. As such, signal officers across 68 divisions have been issued set of instructions immediately on cross-checking all points and rectifying any errors. Zonal bosses have been asked to monitor the checks and ensure that every rail point and panel co-ordination is okay. A circular post discussion recreated the incident in Orissa in South Eastern Railway Zone where 12841 Coromandel Express and 12864 Shalimar Express were involved in the mishap.

 

The information so far is that both loop lines were occupied with stationary goods rakes while mainlines, Up and Down were clear and all green signals were on. So, the question is, how did 12864 enter on to the loopline? The guess is that, in the Operations Control, when the point was set, it got erroneously set to the loopline on which the goods train was already positioned. But, in that case, it should have reflected in data loggers that record all instructions. However, that was not reflected in the primary examination, and that has surprised even the seasoned railway officials. So many doubts have emerged and railway officials are racking their brains to get the answers, particularly to know if there was split in the point that caused this derailment.

 

The other possibility is that wrong wiring was done during routine repair works and cross verification was not done. During the blocks, the maintenance team works in tight conditions as very limited time is available to wrap-up and the pressure is always there and this could have resulted in overlooking the crucial aspect. The signal teams are also wondering whether cable matching of indoor and outdoor panels was confirmed. The signal points are very sensitive and the wiring needs minute attention as a mismatch is a recipe for disaster. Another possibility that is being looked into is about validation of data logger leads to wrong indications that confused the operation control. The other aspect being probed is proper disconnection and reconnection after restoration and working of assets from panel and site with correspondence test and whether same was carried out or not.

 

Against this backdrop the Board have instructed all Senior Divisional Signal and Telecom Engineers (Sr DSTEs), Chief S&TE/P, and CSTE/CN, to follow a proper norm while undertaking works on the tracks. Proper disconnection and reconnection memo should be taken by maintainer. All care must be taken for proper working from panel/VDU with the site by maintainer and user. Also, it must be ensured that proper point housing and detection according to SEM. Further, proper validation of Data Logger and event alert, identify any mismatch on each failure. The seriousness of the alert can be understood that Board said the instructions should be relayed to all maintainers and same should be acknowledged within 24 hours. Chief Signal and Telecom Engineers have been entrusted responsibility of compliance from ground zero.