@Evening: 🤔 Did "Deliberate Interference" Cause The Balasore Train Tragedy?

🛤️ Possibility finds takers

Many senior railway officials, speaking to Swarajya, have said that the primary investigation has pointed fingers at human interference.

Context: Days after the train tragedy in Odisha, a strong suspicion that “deliberate interference” in the electronic interlocking system could have been the cause is gaining ground.

• Several railway experts have said that once a train route is set and locked, it cannot be changed until the train completes its journey on said locked-in route.

• Officials say therefore there is a high possibility of interference in the system to bypass the set procedure.

• The devastating train accident has claimed the lives of 275 passengers and left over 900 injured.

A "deliberate" act? Unless there was “deliberate interference” in the electronic interlocking system, the crash could not have happened, officials maintain.

• During the investigation, they say they came across information that requires "professionals" to probe and establish the cause of the accident.

• Though the Railway Minister said electronic interlocking is a very safe way of interlocking, it can only come in as a fail-safe.

• Unless there is deliberate interference in the system, it’s not possible that a route set for the main line for a train is switched to the loop line.

• This particular angle, along with others, needs to be investigated.

A tweak to electronic interlinking. According to sources, it was found during the initial probe that some sort of “manual tinkering” was done with the logic of electronic interlocking in the cabin at Bahanaga Bazaar Station.

• They say a CBI probe is needed to establish the purpose of such manual tinkering with the basic concept of this "foolproof system."

• Per the officials, the electronic interlocking used by Indian Railways has received the Seal 4 certification, which is considered the best and issued for 100 per cent safety.

Necessity of a CBI probe. A question was posed on the need for Railway Board to recommend CBI looking into the matter, to which a senior railway official responded:

🗣️ "At this stage, because it is a very important investigation being carried out, I will only say that."

• The Railways maintains that a lot of information has emerged during the course of initial investigation.

• The various kinds of information available require professional investigation.

• As a result, a CBI investigation is recommended.

Secure the sheds. The Railways did not respond to a question about whether the relay room housing the signalling system was left open.

• However, in a circular issued on Monday, the Railway Board instructed all the railway zones to “secure the goomties (temporary shed) housing signalling equipment on railway station premises with a ‘double-lock’ arrangement."