Weeks before the Odisha train accident which killed more than 288 people and injured thousands on June 2, the Railway Board had in April pulled up its signalling staffers for using “shortcuts” for reconnecting the signalling gear without proper testing of points. According to new agency PTI, the Railway Board in a letter dated April 3, said five such incidents came to light from various zones and expressed its concern by calling these “alarming and an issue of serious concern”.
The letter added that the signalling gears were reconnected by signal and telecom staffers without proper testing of points. The letter from the board added that such practices reflect dilution of manual and codal provisions and that the same is a potential hazard to safety in train operations and needs to be stopped.
Additionally, the board expressed its dissatisfaction with the signalling department, while noting that these incidents highlight the issues in the department as even after repeated instructions from the board, the “ground situation is not improving” as the staffers of signalling department are still adopting short-cut methods for clearing signals, without a proper exchange of disconnection or re-connection memo with the operating staff and without checking the correspondence from the sites.
“Joint works with engineering staffers, signal maintenance and other repair works requiring disconnection contained in IRSEM should indicate time duration catering provisions for testing signalling gears after completion of engineering works…. The gears should be reconnected only after proper testing to ascertain safe certification of the signalling system,” the letter stated.
The need to the hour is to sensitise the officers and staffers on the field towards the fact that the integrity of the signalling system is of utmost importance from a safety point of view, as several infrastructure projects are under progress with stringent targets.
The Railway Board in its letter also noted that these aspects need to be reviewed in weekly safety meetings at divisional and headquarters levels.
Meanwhile, many officials along with the railway minister had hinted at signal interference as a possible cause of a horrific crash involving three trains in Odisha’s Balasore earlier this month. Over 288 people were killed and thousands were injured in the triple train crash involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train.