Train mishap: Tracks restored, initial probe blames engineering lapse

The railway line at the accident site near Raghunathpur railway station in Bihar’s Buxar district has been restored and a trial run conducted , the East Central Railway (ECR) said on Friday.

Four people were killed and several people were injured after 23 coaches of North East Express, on the way to Assam from Delhi, derailed near Raghunathpur railway station around 9.51 pm on Wednesday.

ECR chief public relation officer (CPRO) Birendra Kumar said, “Within 48 hours of the tragedy, train movement on up and down line has been normalised. Train movement will begin now. Most of the debris has been cleared off the tracks.”

Most of the injured are undergoing treatment in Buxar town and neighbouring Ara.

A total of 25 people have been admitted to AIIMS Patna and of them, nine have been discharged, while 16 are undergoing treatment.

Meanwhile, preliminary investigations have suggested that the derailment was caused by a fault in tracks, which is the responsibility of the engineering department of the Railways, people familiar with the matter said.

The commissioner of railway safety (CRS), which is tasked with investigating the accident, has also recorded statements of the railway staff concerned, besides injured passengers and locals. In the statement, gateman Nand Kishore Singh has said he saw sparking and heard heavy noise when the train was passing. 

The loco pilot, Bipin Kumar Sinha, has said in his statement that when the train was crossing Raghunathpur signal and a railway crossing, he felt heavy vibrations and jerks in the rear portion of the locomotive and found pressure drop in the break pipe, according to a senior Railway official who is part of the investigation team. 

The final report of commissioner of railway safety is expected in a couple of weeks.