Operational lapses led to Kanchanjunga Express accident, finds probe

NEW DELHI: Improper instructions along with inadequate counselling of train running and operations staff led to the June 17 Kanchanjunga Express accident which claimed at least 10 lives, said a preliminary probe report by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).

The CRS said there is an urgent need to overhaul train operations across Indian Railways to prevent such accidents from recurring. It also said that frequent malfunctioning of automatic signalling was defeating the purpose of deploying the mechanism.

The probe found that inadequate permissions were issued to loco pilots on accident day. Crucial instructions such as enforcing speed limits on trains were not explicitly stated while allowing movement on routes where automatic signalling had failed, said the report.


It said that there was inadequate counselling of loco pilots and station masters about train operations in automatic signalling territory, creating misinterpretation and misunderstanding of rules.

Besides, the CRS said that the large number of failures in automatic signalling was a cause of concern and that it should be taken up with the railways research arms and equipment suppliers to improve the reliability of these systems.