A senior Section Engineer gave a dissenting note to the report and said that the ‘data logger’ report, concludes that the signal was green for the main line, not the loop line. Based on observations from the data logger, report, the point was set for the normal side (main line). It may be reserved after derailment (sic), he said.
The Indian Railways have maintained that disagreements among the members during the preliminary stage of the investigation are common and something conclusive will only be revealed after a full inquiry by the commissioner of rail safety.
Senior Section Engineer disagreed with the joint inspection report, which said Point 17A was found set up for Loop line (in reverse condition) of the Station.
I did not agree with (the part of the report) which mention that point No. 17A was found set for the Up Loop line. Based on observations from the data logger report, point 17 was set for the normal side. It may be reverse (sic) after the derailment, the engineer said in the note. The data logger is a system that monitors the signaling system of the railways. The system also scans, stores, and processes data to generate reports. Notably, earlier senior Section Engineer agreed with the findings of the preliminary report, but suddenly changed his stance. He also claimed that 'the' pointed 'of' the derailment was before No. 17A. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the case and is currently investigating the Odisha train accident. The central agency was handed over the investigation as the Ministry of Railways suspected tampering with the electronic interlocking system. The cause of Friday’s crash remains unclear, but senior state railway officials told CNN that it is suspected to have been caused by a traffic signaling failure.
The officials said the train entered a track where a train carrying goods was stopped and slammed into it, pushing several coaches into the opposite track. Another train – the Howrah Express, hit the carriages at high speed and derailed.
A train station superintendent in Odisha state explained on Saturday that a signaling failure can occur either due to a technical malfunction or human error, as traffic signals are often handled by personnel in every station.
A “high-level inquiry” has been ordered into the collision to understand what caused the crash, Ashwani Vaishnaw, the minister of railways, told reporters on Saturday.
As the sun rose on Saturday, rescuers scrambled over the tangle of wreckage and overturned train carriages in a desperate search for survivors. Passengers joined first responders in an effort to free those trapped. Officials said the death toll was suspected to rise further, as many passengers were thought to be pinned under train cars.
Local authorities said that evening that search efforts had stopped but would resume Sunday.
“It’s still ongoing. We need to lift the wreckage and see what’s underneath… A crane has arrived, we will pull the coaches up one by one but we don’t have much hope of finding survivors,” Odisha’s fire service chief.
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