Days after a major train accident between Alamanda and Kantakapalli in Andhra Pardesh, all three affected lines are ready for train operations, the Indian Railways have informed.
Lines restored
Sharing a release, it said that the first train passed the middle line of the affected area at 12:55 am last night.
“Middle line for train operations at 11.29 PM last night after track and overhead equipment works. The first train on the middle line passed the affected area at 0055hrs (12.55a.m) last night”, the release read.
With this, all three lines are cleared for train services. Earlier during the day, the first coaching train passed the Upline at around 2:36 pm, while the first goods train passed the downline at 2:25 pm.
What preliminary investigation says
Meanwhile, a preliminary investigation by authorities has blamed the driver and the assistant driver of the Rayagada Passenger train responsible for the incident.
The investigation observed that the accident between two trains occurred since the train did not bother with safety norms and passed through two malfunctioning automatic signals. Unfortunately, both drivers have also lost their lives in the incident.
It may be noted that as per the set norms, the train should have stopped at the malfunctioning auto signals for two minutes and then resume its journey. However, the passenger train did not stop at the signal, resulting in a tragedy.
There were reportedly two defective auto signals in Kantakapalli-Alamanda (kpl-alm) section, the place where the accident occurred.
Earlier, Biswajit Sahu, Chief Public Relations Officer of East Coast Railway said that the rescue operation is over and the focus has now shifted to track restoration work. track restoration.
He further pointed out that total arrangements have been made for bus and train services for passengers who were left stranded.
Passengers with minor injuries were shifted to nearby Alamanda hospital and those with serious injuries were shifted to Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam Hospital, Sahu said further, as per ANI.