Odisha train accident | Data logger analysis to provide crucial evidence for rail probe

Considered the black box of the Railways, the data logger will help identify failures with little scope for suppressing human error; will clarify if signal was red or green when Coromandel Express crossed

Derailed coaches of the Coromandal express are seen on its accident spot at Bahanaga railway station in Balasore district of Odisha. | Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT

With a preliminary investigation pointing to a possible failure of the signalling system, the analysis of the data logger in the Kharagpur-Bhadrak section of the South Eastern Railway will provide crucial evidence to the circumstances that led to a multi-train collision and claimed the lives of over 250 passengers and left about 900 others injured.

The data logger, also known as an event logger, is a microprocessor-based system which logs information about the relays, and records all activities in the signalling system of a railway station, officials explained. It effectively acts like the black box of an aircraft, and can scan, store and process the signal sytem data to generate user-friendly reports.

An infographic depicting how the Odisha train crash may have happened based on the preliminary probe by Indian Railway Ministry.

Technical evidence

With the help of the data logger, the exact time of train movements and derailment can be assessed as the railway tracks are wired and interlocked. Events like the bursting of a point, derailment of a train, a train accident, or even a train passing a signal while it is red can all be detected using this system.

A senior railway official said that the data logger could help identify the real cause of a failure, with little scope to suppress any human error. It would also help in recreating the accident, and thus aid the investigation into its causes.

In Frames | A glimpse of the triple train tragedy in Odisha’s Balasore district

Locals, security personnel and NDRF conduct search and rescue operation at the site where Coromandel, Bengaluru-Howrah Express trains derailed on June 2 night, in Balasore district.

South Central Railway (SCR) officials, who sounded an alert on the major train mishap occurred in Odisha, has said that Help Desks have been set up at Vijayawada and Rajahmundry railway stations.

Ambulances rush to the accident spot in Balasore on the highway on June 2 night.

Local people and volunteers gathered at the Soro hospital to help the injured train passengers near by the accident spot in Balasore district.

An official on June 2 said that a goods train too was involved in the accident as the coaches of the Coromandel Express hit its wagons after getting derailed.

Injured passengers were taken to the Hospitals of Gopalpur, Khantapara, Balasore, Bhadrak and Soro.

In view of the deadly accident, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik declared one-day State mourning on June 3 in view of the tragic rail accident.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has also solicited the help of the Air Force in the rescue operations.

On June 3, efforts were underway to cut the only bogie which was severely damaged after the horrific train accident in Odisha’s Balasore, state Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said.

The accident took place exactly near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.

For the benefit of the stranded passengers buses have been arranged in both Balasore and Bhadrak directions. Special trains will also run between Bhadrak-Chennai and Balasore-Howrah.

A drone view shows the derailed coaches.

The TMC demanded Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s resignation over the horrific triple train crash in neighbouring Odisha. TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the Centre neglected the installation of anti-collision devices in trains to prevent such accidents.

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Red or green signal?

“In the tragic accident on Friday evening, it appears that the signal was set for Coromandel Superfast Express to pass through the station on the main line. But the train entered the loop line and collided with the goods train. If the outer signal was in red, the train would have been stopped. Now we have to investigate whether Coromandel Express passed the signal in danger or whether the signals were in green but took the train into the loop line,” said the official, who did not want to be named.

The official referred to other instances where trains passed into the loop line though there was a green signal for the main line, and said that such situations were possible when the signalling staff engaged in relay repair work without obtaining a block from the Section Controller.

“When a block is given, there would be no train operations in the section till the relay repair work is completed. But due to the hectic schedule of train operations, it is not so easy to get a block from the Section Controller. So the signalling staff inform the Station Master and attend to signalling repairs by opening the relay system. The factual position of these events would be clearly stored in the data logger,” he said.

The data logger will provide crucial input to the Commissioner of Railway Safety who will conduct the detailed investigation of the major accident, railway sources added.