Tamil Nadu train accident due to 'human error', 9 killed

ARAKKONAM: The train accident that killed nine passengers, including one woman, when an EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) train rammed a passenger train near Arakkonam, 75km from Chennai, was due to human error, says the initial inquiry report of Southern Railway. The EMU driver had jumped two or three previous signals, an official said.

Deepak Kishan, general manager of Southern Railway said that the motor man of the EMU train that rammed the passenger train at its rear end while waiting for a signal, jumped out of his cabin before the accident. "It is also found that he had skipped two or three previous signals and the train was speeding at 96kmph," Kishan told TOI after visiting the accident spot on Wednesday morning.

He added that the reason for skipping automatic signals are a serious mistake and reasons remain "mysterious."

The guard on duty at the rear end of the passenger train died in the accident. The motor men of the EMU train have been admiited to the Government General Hospital, Chennai, said the police.

The accident, while the EMU train was in a speed of 96kms per hour, has smashed the compartments of passenger train, literally throwing it away from the lane. The first three comaprtments of EMU were magngled. Residents of the locality said most of those dead and injured were coolie workers who were going back home after working at construction sites in Chennai and its suburbs.

Southern Railway has cancelled all trains on the Chennai- Arakkonam route. " Two rail lanes were damaged in the accident. We are hoping to restore of one lane by 2pm and the other by 6pm. We are trying to divert some trains via Katpadi and Renigunda," Kishan said.