Signal Fault Identified As Cause Of Train Crash In India, Says Minister

India’s railways minister has said the country’s deadliest train crash in more than two decades was caused by an error in electronic signals that sent a train on to the wrong tracks.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Ashw ini Vaishnaw said the full in quiry into Friday’s crash in the eastern state of Odisha, which killed at least 275 people and injured more than 1,000, was still under way but “the root cause has been identifi ed”.

According to preliminary fi ndings, a green signal was given to the Coromandel Express train to enter the main track line but was later taken off . The train then entered another line, known as the loop line, and crashed into a stationary freight train, laden with heavy iron ore .

The impact of the collision, which took place as the Coromandel Express was travelling at 80mph, was momentous. The crash caused the engine and the fi rst four or fi ve coaches to jump the tracks, topple and hit the last two coaches of the BengaluruHowrah Superfast Express heading in the opposite direction, causing several of its carriages to derail.

Vaishnaw would not confi rm if the human error or interference had played a role in the signalling malfunction. “Who has done it and what is the reason will come out of an investigation,” he added. The railways ministry ha s also sought a criminal investigation into the incident by the Central Bureau of Investigation, a government agency.