TN rail accident: Officials say driver error caused mishap

Chennai: Driver error has been found to be the cause of a train accident near Chennai that left 10 people dead and disrupted rail services in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, officials said on Wednesday.

Ten people were killed and 86 injured late Tuesday when the Chennai Beach-Vellore suburban train hit the stationary Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train. Five coaches of the stationary train and three of the suburban train went off the rails resulting in death and severe injuries to passengers. Arakkonam is about 85 km from Chennai.

The driver of the suburban train -- Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment mainline electrical multiple unit (MEMU) -- was travelling at high speed, and had jumped two signals, according to preliminary reports. The driver jumped from the engine just before the train rammed into the stationary passenger train.

Train services to Chennai from Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli in Karnataka were hit. Some trains were cancelled and rescheduled, the South Western Railway said.

On Tuesday, the absence of light coupled with heavy rains hindered the relief work. Traffic movement on the line was restored Wednesday evening.

'Both the lines on that route have been restored and movement of trains has started. All trains will be operated from this evening onwards like a normal day,' M. Boopathy, senior public relations officer at Southern Railway, told IANS.

The Railway has ordered a probe into the accident.

Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi, accompanied by Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa and senior Railway Board officials, visited the accident spot in a special train after meeting the injured admitted to the Government General Hospital in Chennai.

Queried by reporters about the cause of accident, the minister said at Arakkonam: 'It is very early to conclude as to the cause of accident as inquiry report has to come.' He added that the driver of the suburban train 'neglected the signal and over-sped, resulting in the accident'.

He said 'signals and other railway system were functioning well and we have to find out why this accident happened'.

He also ruled out that the driver of the MEMU train Rajkumar was fatigued as he had operated the train after a 16-hour layover.

Trivedi said the Indian Railway is working out a system to prevent such train accidents in the future.

'A system is being worked out to ensure that these incidents do not happen,' he said.

Rajkumar jumped out of the driver's cabin just before the accident, another official said.

The driver is now undergoing treatment at the Government General Hospital in Chennai for the injuries sustained after he jumped out the train.

Deepak Krishnan, general manager, Southern Railways told reporters that the signal records show that the MEMU train had jumped two signals before Arakkonam. He said a detailed inquiry would throw more light on this.

The minister thanked the villagers and others for carrying out the rescue operations.

The railways have announced that S.K. Mittal, commissioner of railway safety, Southern Circle, Bangalore will hold a statutory inquiry in Chennai Sep 16-17 into the accident.

Trivedi also announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the next of kin of each of those killed, Rs.1 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs.25,000 for the others.

Following the accident, the Southern Railway Wednesday cancelled 11 trains and rescheduled seven from Chennai. Special counters were set up to refund the fare to ticket holders of the cancelled trains.

Rescue work at the accident spot progressed at a good pace Wednesday as the sun shone bright.

By Wednesday afternoon, the rescue teams cleared the mangled steel from the tracks with help of a heavy duty crane and trains were allowed to pass through the spot to Chennai.

Janakiraman, a survivor who was brought to a hospital in Chennai, recalled the collision and said he heard a huge noise. After sometime, he jumped out of a window of the coach he was travelling in.

A similar tale was narrated by Sundar, another survivor. 'I somehow came out of a window and helped two others to come out,' he said.

An official of the Government General Hospital here said: 'Thirty-six injured people (26 men and 10 women) were admitted Tuesday night. Many had suffered fractures.'

The passengers were also thankful to the National Disaster Response Force that arrived at the spot within 30 minutes of the accident.