India’s railway minister has suggested a signal fault led to the Odisha rail disaster, with a “change in electronic interlocking” the likely cause reports the BBC. India’s Railway Board, in turn, said there had been “some kind of signalling interference” rather than failure.
In railway signalling the electronic interlocking system sets routes for each train in a set area, ensuring the safe movement of trains along the track.
The passenger trains had been supposed to pass each other on the main lines but the Coromandel Express rammed into an iron ore-laden freight train on the loop line, causing the engine and some coaches to lift over the top of the heavy goods carriages.The passenger train took the entire impact on collision.
The Howrah Superfast Express had nearly crossed in the opposite direction, but two of its rear coaches were struck by the derailed Coromandel Express.
Meanwhile the death toll has been revised down to 275 after some bodies were counted twice, officials said. Of the 1,175 injured people taken to hospital, 793 have been discharged. Some families are still searching for their loved ones.
