Listed close shaves, red-flagged signal team's shortcuts

LUCKNOW: Precisely 60 days before the Balasore rail accident which claimed over 275 lives, the Railway Board, in a letter to general managers of 19 zones of Indian railways, cited five incidents in the current calendar year to highlight short cut methods adopted by signal and telecommunication (S&T) department to resolve signal issues, resulting in unsafe operations.
The letter written by Railway Board member infrastructure Roop Narayan Sunkar on April 3, 2023, was tweeted by Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday after which it went viral. Speaking to TOI over phone, Sunkar said, "Yes, the letter was written. Instructions given by the board have to be followed."
According to Sunkar's letter, between January 27 and March 22 this year, Rajya Rani Express entered into washing line area instead of Lucknow junction station; a local train heading towards platform number one of Kharkopar (Mumbai), derailed while passing over emergency crossover; a locomotive engine of Sarbat Da Bhala Express derailed at Ludhiana station during reverse; a goods train traversed to wrong track from emergency crossover at Bagratawa railway station (Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh), while Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express was given wrong track while it was on loop line to continue its journey towards Hazrat Nizamuddin.
Sunkar wrote, "The signaling gears were reconnected by S&T staff without proper testing of points (crossover) after blocks (in railway parlance, halting train operations until the error is rectified) for switch replacement, wrong wiring during preparatory works and other such practices reflect dilution of manual and codal provisions. Same are potential hazards."
The letter stated, "The five incidents indicate that despite repeated instructions, signaling staff are continuing to adopt short cut methods. Officers and staff need to be sensitised to ensure integrity of the signaling system being of utmost importance."