BHUBANSWAR, India — A signal repair error led to the three-train collision that killed 288 people in June, according to a Reuters report.
The news report cites a report from investigators for the Commission of Railway Safety that says workers trying to address problems at a nearby grade crossing did not have a circuit diagram, leading to faulty wiring. That caused a malfunction in the automated signaling system that sent the Cormandel Express passenger train, traveling at 80 mph, into a stationary train of iron ore. Some cars of the Cormandel Express then hit another train, the Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express, leading to fatalities on both trains [see “Signal error blamed for fatal collision in India,” Trains News Wire, June 4, 2023].
More than 1,000 people were injured in the June 2 collision. The report says there were multiple lapses in Indian Railways’ signal and telecom departments and that standard operating procedures were not followed during the repairs.
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