Kanchanjunga: Experts protect dead pilot, blame signal

Synopsis Manual authorisation provided incorrectly caused the deadly mishap, rail professionals firmly insist. The pilot of the freight train was provided the consent mistakenly at the station, and the authorisation he got did not need him to decrease speed at that stretch. IANS The website of the mishap The widely-reported train accident in north Bengal last Monday that eliminated 9 individuals, including a freight train and the Kanchanjungha Express, was apparently brought on by procedural lapses and malfunctioning signalling systems, according to numerous senior and retired train authorities, ToI reported on June 22. The crash led to the deaths of 10 people and raised concerns about the adherence to standard procedure (SOP) for rail traffic. The products train need to not have actually been allowed to continue beyond Rangapani station before the Kanchanjungha Express crossed Chattar Hat station, a procedure generally controlled by manual permission chits called type T/A 912, the report (by Ajanta Chakraborty, Tamaghna Banerjee and Subhro Niyogi) stated. The source of the mishap is thought to be the incorrect issuance of manual permission chits to both the freight and traveler train loco pilots. Senior train authorities showed that type T/A 912, which was utilized, does not bring a speed limitation and is not planned to be released unless the block is clear of trains throughout a signal failure. Amit Ghosh, assistant basic secretary of the All India Railwaymen Federation, kept in mind, “When a loco chauffeur gets this kind, he can continue to the end of the block at regular speed. That is exactly what the loco chauffeur of the freight train was doing. He had no understanding of the existence of the Kanchanjungha Express ahead as the track was expected to be clear till Chattar Hat station.” Till Tuesday, main sources, consisting of the Railway Board chairperson and CEO Jaya Varma Sinha, in addition to the CPROs of a minimum of 2 train zones, recommended that the freight train’s loco pilot ignored signals and speed limitations, taking a trip at nearly 3 times the expected speed limitation of 15kmph. Present and previous train authorities who spoke with TOI on Wednesday argued that the problem revolved around the signalling system’s failure and unsuitable application of standards from the Indian Railways’ General & Subsidiary Rules Book (2004 edition). They repeated that type T/A 912 does not bring any speed constraints, mentioning, “Only when work is under method on the tracks in a specific area is the optimal speed lim
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