The investigation into last year’s tragic collision of two passenger trains in the Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, which left 17 passengers dead and 34 injured, has not revealed any evidence to prove that the locomotive pilots of one of the trains were watching cricket at the time of the accident.
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In March this year, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had claimed that “both the loco pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match which was going on”.
Safety first: On the lessons from the train accident in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh
According to sources in the East Coast Railway, the analysis of data usage on mobile phones used by Loco Pilot S.M.S Rao and Assistant Loco Pilot S. Chiranjeevi — both of whom died in the accident — gave no indication that they were watching cricket. The call details and data usage were analysed by the Senior Divisional Signal and Telecommunications Engineer and the Divisional Safety Officer of the Waltair Division. The Commissioner of Railway Safety Pranjeev Saxena, who conducted a detailed inquiry into the accident, has also not made any mention about the loco pilots watching cricket in his report.
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‘Distracted’
Apart from the two loco pilots, the train manager or guard of the Visakhapatnam-Palasa Passenger also died when their train collided with the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada Passenger on October 29, 2023. The CRS inquiry concluded that an “error in train working” caused the accident and held the train crew and operating staff responsible for the crash, among others.
On March 3, however, the Railway Minister told a news agency in New Delhi that “both the loco pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match which was going on. Now we are installing systems which can detect any such distraction and make sure that the pilots and the assistant pilots are fully focussed on running the train.” However, the sources said that there is no evidence to confirm Mr. Vaishnaw’s charge.
A senior official in Waltair Division said that it was a “grave” mistake to have gone on record accusing the loco pilot and his assistant, who had both died on the spot, of watching cricket while on duty. “There is no evidence to prove this now... It was just a rumour. We have provided employment to their spouses on compassionate grounds,” said the officer, who did not wish to be named.
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Headphone use banned
After Mr. Vaishnaw made his statement, the Railways had issued an order banning the use of bluetooth headphones among crew members during duty hours. In a circular dated March 19, the Southern Railway referred to the accident and said that, during preliminary investigations, it had been established that the crew of Train No. 08504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger had failed to adhere to the signal protocols, thereby precipitating the collision.
“Shockingly, it came to light that the crew members were engrossed in watching a cricket match on their mobile phones, facilitated by the use of bluetooth devices of headphones. This blatant disregard for safety protocols is utterly unacceptable and places countless lives at grave risk,” Akhil S. Anand, Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer, Chennai Division, had said in the order.
A similar circular was issued by the Senior Divisional Safety Officer of South East Central Railway on March 12.
Mr. Vaishnaw said the findings of the Commissioner of Railway Safety would be treated as the final word on what might have led to the rail accident. There was a tentative initial possibility that the loco-pilots may have been distracted at the time of the accident, and restrictions on the use of gadgets by loco-pilots were put in place as a matter of abundant caution, the Minister said. “CRS inquiry is meant to arrive at conclusive findings,” he said.