‘Prima Facie Suggests Human Error…’: Railway Board Chief On Kanchanjungha Rail Tragedy

Railway Board Chairperson Jaya Varma Sinha on Monday said that the collision between the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjungha Express and a goods train near West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri prima facie suggests “human error” as the cause.

Sinha further explained that the collision occurred because the goods train disregarded the signal.

“Prima facie suggests human error as the cause. The first indications suggest that this is a case of signal disregard. Kavach needs to proliferated, planned for West Bengal,” Sinha said at a press conference.

The railway board chief also confirmed that the driver and assistant driver of the goods train, as well as the guard of the Kanchanjungha Express, died in the incident.

At least nine people were killed and 41 injured when the goods train rammed into the stationary Sealdah-bound Kanchanjungha Express in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district.

The collision occurred near Rangapani station, 30 km from New Jalpaiguri station, causing four rear compartments of the Kanchanjungha Express to derail due to the impact from the goods train’s locomotive at 8:55 am.

According to railway officials, the passenger train was stationary when the goods train rammed into it.

Internal documents revealed that the goods train was permitted to cross all red signals because the automatic signalling system had “failed.”

The document, a written authority called TA 912, was issued to the driver of the goods train by the station master of Ranipatra, authorising him to cross all red signals, a railway source said.

The Railway Board stated that initial findings indicated the goods train driver violated signal regulations and failed to adhere to operational norms of the faulty automatic signal system.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has started a probe into the cause of the accident.

(With inputs from agencies)