PremiumRailways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday waved at passengers and crew and prayed for their safe journey, as services resumed following repair of the damaged tracks on both the up and down lines, 51 hours after the horrific triple train accident in Balasore left 275 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
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Station relay rooms and compounds housing signalling equipment should have "double locking arrangements", the railways has directed its zonal headquarters after initial probe showed "signalling interference" as a suspected reason behind the Odisha triple-train accident.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Monday referred to the Balasore railway accident involving three trains as he trashed the BJP's recent campaign for a "triple-engine" government in Uttar Pradesh.
"Those who are showing dreams of a triple engine, you have seen that the triple engines collided," he said in an apparent reference to the tragedy on Friday that claimed 275 lives and injured over 1,100 others.
The Odisha government will bear the transportation cost of bodies of the triple train accident victims to different states, Chief Secretary P K Jena said on Monday. He said 170 bodies out of 275 have so far been identified in Balasore and Bhubaneswar.
“Till normalcy returns in the train movement from Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack railway stations for the stranded passengers free bus services will be available to Kolkata," said Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena.
Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the probe agency is meant to investigate crimes, not railway accidents, and cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures. Kharge also said "all the empty safety claims" of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have now been "exposed" and the government must bring to light the real reasons that caused this grave accident, which he described as one of the worst in Indian history. "The CBI, or any other law enforcement agency, cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures. In addition, they lack the technical expertise in railway safety, signalling, and maintenance practices," the Congress chief said.
Investigators are looking into causes behind the accident including, human error, signal failure, or sabotage.
“It seems there was some error in the signaling system," Jaya Varma Sinha, a senior railway official, said at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday.
The Coromandel Express was meant to enter the Balasore station on the main line but received a signal to use a loop line where a freight train was parked, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, citing a preliminary investigation report.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has hinted that sabotage could also be involved and asked that the accident be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
An express passenger train collided with a stationary goods train in the Balasore district of the eastern state of Odisha on June 2. This resulted in several carriages being thrown on to an adjoining track and into the direct path of another express passenger train coming from the opposite direction.
The impact of the first collision was so powerful that carriages of the Coromandel Express were thrown high into the air, twisting and then smashing off the tracks. Photos and videos from the site showed mangled metal strewn across the tracks.
Rescue workers had to use gas torches and electric cutters to reach the trapped survivors.
India's official investigation into its deadliest rail crash in over two decades began on Monday, after preliminary findings pointed to signal failure as the likely cause for a collision that killed at least 275 people and injured 1,200.
The disaster struck on Friday, when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped the tracks and hit another passenger train passing in the opposite direction near the district of Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha. "Several officials and witnesses have joined the inquiry. The inquiry is underway," a senior railway officer told a Reuters reporter, as officials checked documents being submitted for examination.
Chief Secretary, Odisha says “So far 151 bodies have been identified. All bodies after due process are being handed over for transfer to the destination. Arrangements for free transportation of the bodies by hearses/ dead body carriers till destination made by Odisha Govt"
Gura Pallay was watching another train pass by the one he was sitting in when he heard sudden, loud screeching. Before he could make sense of what was happening, he was thrown out of the train.
Pallay, 24, landed next to the tracks along with metal wreckage of the train he'd been riding in, and instantly lost consciousness. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the twisted remains of three trains on the tracks.
His train had derailed after colliding with a stopped freight train. Another passenger train, the one he had seen pass by moments earlier, had hit the derailed carriages.
“I saw it with my own eyes, but I still can’t describe what I saw. I am haunted by it," he said Sunday at a hospital, where he lay on a stretcher with a broken leg and dark wounds on his face and arms.
Pallay is a laborer, like most of the people onboard the two passenger trains that crashed Friday in the eastern Odisha state, killing 275 people and injuring hundreds. He was traveling to Chennai city in southern India to take up a job in a paper mill factory when the Coromandel Express crashed with a goods freight train, knocking it off track, and was then hit by a second train coming from the opposite direction on a parallel track.
“I never imagined something like this could happen, but I guess it was our fate," he said.
Narendra Singh Bundela, IG, NDRF shared an update saying that “All 9 teams of NDRF who were working in Odisha's Balasore have been withdrawn."
A major disaster was averted when alert railway staff noticed a crack on the chassis of a coach of the Kollam Junction-Chennai Egmore Express at Tamil Nadu's Sengottai railway station, Railway officials told ANI. The crack was detected at the Sengottai railway station on Sunday evening.
The affected coach was detached from the train, and a replacement coach was added to the train in Madurai before it commenced its journey. According to Southern Railway, "On Sunday at 3:36 pm, a crack was noticed by Carriage and Wagon (C&W) staff in the S3 coach of train No 16102 (Chennai Egmore Express) which was entering Sengottai station in Tamil Nadu."
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on 5 June wrote to PM Modi over Balasore train accident. In the letter, the Congress President has stated important facts to the Prime Minister. “The devastating train accident in Batesons, Odisha, on of the worst in Indian history has shocked the nation. The country stands united in this hour of grief, however the loss of so many precious lives has shaken the conscience of every Indian."
East Coast Railway said that some wagons of a goods train operated by a private cement factory derailed inside the factory premises near Mendhapali of Bargarh district in Odisha. “There is no role of Railways in this matter," it said. Further adding, it said, “This is completely a narrow gauge siding of a private cement company. All the infrastructure including rolling stock, engine, wagons, train tracks (narrow gauge) are being maintained by the company."
Just 3 days after triple train collision accident happened in Odisha which killed 275 passengers, now another goods train derails in Odisha's Bargarh. As per the statement by East Coast Railway, “Some wagons of a goods train operated by a private cement factory derailed inside the factory premises near Mendhapali of Bargarh district in Odisha. There is no role of Railways in this matter."
Odisha will be providing free bus services to the people who want to travel to Kolkata. As per Odisha CMO statement, Odisha is providing free bus services to the people who want to travel to Kolkata in view of the disruption of rail services due to Bahanaga train mishap. A total of 20 buses from Puri, 23 buses from Bhubaneswar & 16 buses from Cuttack have left for Kolkata as of 11:30 pm on June 4.
MP Sanjay Raut questioned the government and said that they give false assurances.
The Howrah - Puri Vande Bharat Express which was launched on 18 May crossed from Odisha’s Balasore where the deadly train accident took place on June 2. The Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express started for passenger travel from 20 May. The departure time from Puri is 1:50 pm and reaches Howrah at 8:30 pm while the departure time from Howrah is 6:10 am and reaches Puri 12.35 pm.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that their goal is to make missing persons' family members can find them as soon as possible after the horrific triple train accident that took place in Odisha's Balasore on Friday, June 2. "Our goal is to make sure missing persons' family members can find them as soon as possible...our responsibility is not over yet," Vaishnaw told reporters on Sunday night.
Odisha Chief Secretary PK Jena said his government has no intention to hide the deaths in the Balasore train crash and the entire rescue operation was being conducted in full public view.
Reacting to allegations that the death toll figure was being manipulated, he said Odisha believes in transparency.
"Media persons are very much present at the accident site since the beginning. Everything is being done in the presence of cameras," he said.
"The railways had stated the death toll as 288. We also said that, and the figure was based on information from the railways. But, our Balasore District Collector has verified the death toll, and the figure was 275 till 10 am of Sunday," he said.
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama offered his condolences to the families of those who lost lives or sustained injuries in the Odisha train accident, the Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama said. "I offer my condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones," he wrote in the letter, "and pray for all those who have been injured and others affected by this tragedy.
"I very much appreciate that the State Government and other agencies, including those of the Central Government, are doing their utmost to provide medical treatment and support to the injured and other people affected by this tragic accident," Dalai Lama said, as per the official statement.
Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for questioning the official death toll in the Odisha train accident, and said nobody should play politics over the tragedy. Thakur, while addressing a press conference in Ulhasnagar town of Maharashtra's Thane district, said the Odisha train accident was heartbreaking. Reacting to the West Bengal chief minister questioning the official death figure, he said, "Mamata Banerjee has lost her 'mamata' (affection)...The figures were given by the state (Odisha) government where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not ruling." "Nobody should play politics over such tragic incidents. This is the time for everyone to stand with the families of the victims who have lost so much," he said.
Railway Board member Jaya Varma Sinha who held a press conference yesterday recalled her last conversation that she had with the driver of Coromandel express. "He was conscious at the time. He could only say that he got a green signal. After that, his condition became serious and he is now hospitalised," Sinha said.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya along with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Cabinet Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the injured victims of the triple train accident, in Cuttack on Sunday.
According to officials, the Union ministers met the injured passengers at the Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
The ministers also held a meeting with doctors from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar as well as those from SCB Medical College and Hospital, informed officials.
As the restoration work was completed, train movement was resumed yesterday night. Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw waved at passengers and crew and prayed for their safe journey, as services resumed following repair of the damaged tracks on both the up and down lines, 51 hours after the horrific triple train accident in Balasore left 275 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday said that the Union government should find out the reasons behind the Odisha train accident and take appropriate action against the concerned persons.
After reviewing the rescue operation in Odisha, Udhayanidhi Stalin said, "We inspected the hospital where people are getting treatment following the train accident. We got to know that no Tamilians were admitted to the hospital. None of the Tamil Nadu passengers lost their lives there as of now, all are safe".
He said that 28 out of 127 people who had booked to travel by train were Tamils. "Out of which 21 were found to be fine. Rest are also fine confirmed by people who are with them. This accident should not have happened, the Union Government should find out what caused this damage and take appropriate action," the TN minister added.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw got emotional as he spoke about the triple train accident. While addressing the media, he said, "Our goal is to make sure missing persons' family members can find them as soon as possible...our responsibility is not over yet"
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while addressing the Indian diaspora in US hit out at the Centre over the horrific triple train accident in Odisha, claiming that the only ideology that it espouses is to make excuses not accept the reality.
Odisha Train Accident LIVE Updates: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday that the railway board has recommended a CBI probe into the Odisha train accident in which 275 people died and 1,175 were injured.
Odisha Train Accident LIVE Updates: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday questioned the death figures given by the Ministry of Railways in the triple train crash in Odisha's Balasore, stating that 61 people from her state were dead and 182 were still missing.
Mamata Banerjee asked questions on whether Vande Bharat engines were up to the mark. "If from one state, 182 are missing and 61 are confirmed dead, then where would the figures stand?" she asked, addressing a press conference at the state secretariat, Nabanna.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday waved at passengers and crew and prayed for their safe journey, as services resumed following repair of the damaged tracks on both the up and down lines, 51 hours after the horrific triple train accident in Balasore left 275 dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, the Railways minister said work on reconstruction of the damaged tracks started soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out instructions to that effect.
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