Odisha Train Accident: "Down main line made fit," says Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on restoration work

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who took stock of the restoration work at the Balasore train accident site in Odisha on Sunday said that the "down main line restored".

Speaking to ANI, Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "This is a different issue. It is about a point machine, electronic interlocking. The change that occurred during electronic interlocking, the accident happened due to that. Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out after proper investigation."

"Down main line made fit at 12:05 hrs today," Railways Minister Vaishnaw tweeted.



The Balasore train accident where two passenger trains and a goods carriage were involved claimed 275 lives so far while over 1,000 people sustained injuries, Odisha Chief Secy Pradeep Jena said on Sunday.

Earlier today, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the tragic train accident in Odisha's Balasore occurred due to a "change in electronic interlocking".

Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements between trains through an arrangement of tracks. It is basically a safety measure to prevent signals from being changed in improper sequence. The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is proven safe

Speaking to ANI, Ashwini Vaihsnaw said, "This is a different issue. It is about point machine, electronic interlocking. The change that occurred during electronic interlocking, the accident happened due to that. Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out after proper investigation."

Meanwhile, as per the official figures, the accident on Friday night left 275 people dead and over 1000 injured.

The three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods trains on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district.