The Railways have initiated a high-level inquiry into Wednesday’s violation of safety norms involving New Delhi-bound 12625 Kerala Express at Ollur railway station, near Thrissur.
A team comprising senior officials of electrical, traffic and signal wings commenced inquiry proceedings at Ernakulam on Friday to ‘fix responsibility” of the incident that is being viewed “seriously” by the Railways.
Stationmaster T. Vinu was placed under suspension within hours of the incident for “wrongly receiving” the train at the station and for not following safety precautions while backing the train from Road number 2 to 3.
Disciplinary action
Railway sources said the loco pilot and the guard of the train had also erred and both of them would face disciplinary action after the inquiry, which would be completed this week itself.
“The loco pilot and the guard took the train from Ollur railway station to the home signal. They could have refused the orders of the stationmaster that was taken without the consent of the Railway control,” a senior official told The Hindu .
The prestigious train that had 24 coaches suffered detention of 35 minutes and the track level towards Pudukkad is falling with a gradient of 1/115.
As per the rules, the locomotive should be in leading position (front) in such a gradient as the chances of rolling back and failure of brakes of the rake are on the higher side.
“The train had a tonnage of 2000 and was full of passengers when it was taken back 1000 metres. The lc gates were open and a mishap was averted. It is a safety rule violation,” the official said. It is for the first time in the State that the stationmaster committed such a violation.
The backing with the locomotive on the rear side is permitted by the Railways in gradient that is flatter than 1/400. In the division, the steepest gradient of 1/80 is in the Thrissur-Shoranur stretch.
Stationmaster has been placed under suspension for ‘wrongly receiving’ a train
