South Western Railway hindering Anekal accident probe: Railway Safety Commissioner

BENGALURU: A top Railways official has accused his South Western Railway counterparts of hindering investigations into the recent train accident near Anekal that killed 10 passengers. "We have asked them repeatedly about this information (related to the accident) but it seems they don't want their mistake to come to light," SK Mittal, Commissioner of Railway Safety, told ET. "SWR officials are delaying giving data about when the track was last checked, who used to monitor the railway tracks in the Anekal area, problems in that stretch, and other details. I have to submit a report within a month and they have not submitted these data even 12 days after the accident," he said.

SWR's Divisional Railway Manager Sanjeev Agarwal said he had taken charge only two days ago and that he is aware of the documents sought. “He (Mittal) is asking for some old data about general behavior of the trains. It may take some time as it has to come from SWR head office, which is in Hubballi,“ he said. In addition to those killed, about 150 passengers were injured when nine bogies of the Bengaluru-Ernakulam Express derailed near Anekal on February 13. Initially, the train was suspected to have hit a boulder but that turned out to be untrue. Other theories have been mooted since.

A South Western Railway safety officer said the department was preparing sketches and collecting data and would soon submit these to the Commissioner of Railway Safety. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who ordered an enquiry into the accident, has directed South Western Railway officials to provide all necessary information to the Commissioner of Railway Safety.

C Sunish, general secretary of the All India Loco Running Staff Association, South Western Railway, blamed the poor quality of the tracks for the accident. He said a patch of the track where the train derailed had been welded just 12 hours before.

"After any welding, a train can move at a speed of only 30 km per hour on that stretch. But this was not informed to the loco pilot and he was going at 63 kmph. The track was not strong enough to take that speed and it broke again," Sunish said.