The Railways on Thursday described Tuesday’s twin train derailments in Madhya Pradesh as “freak” accidents, saying neither the railway bridge had any defects nor any flood alert had been issued.
“There wasn’t any lack of preparedness,” V.K. Gupta, Railway Board Member (Engineering), told presspersons here. He visited the accident site on Wednesday.
Mr. Gupta said the flash floods that caused the derailment were unprecedented, something not seen since the laying of the line in 1870.
“The line was 13 feet above the riverbed, but the water was gushing 36 feet high and 656 feet wide, which is unprecedented and can be called freak,” he said. “While one train was stationary, another train coming from the opposite direction on the second line also managed to stop at the affected section. But the flash floods breached the tracks heavily. As a result, a few coaches capsized.”
Mr. Gupta said the section was not identified as vulnerable. “All established norms were followed for monsoon preparedness,” he added.
He said though the section would be now identified as vulnerable, it is unlikely that such floods would recur soon.
Mr. Gupta said bridges were not affected, and efforts were on to make one line operational by Sunday evening.
Train movement has been adversely affected in the section by the breach in the tracks.
