Andhra Pradesh Train Collision Likely Due To 'Human Error', Near Repeat Of Balasore Rail Disaster

According to railway officials, the overshooting of Signal by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train led to the collision in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district.

The collision between two trains in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district seems like a repeat of the train disaster in Odisha nearly five months ago. According to railway officials, the overshooting of Signal by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train led to the collision, as per the news agency IANS. Human error is the likely reason for the accident, they further said. Both incidents involved collisions between two passenger trains and a goods train.

Two trains collided on the Howrah-Chennai line in the Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday evening. The Palasa passenger train hit the Rayagada passenger train from behind at Kankatapalli at around 7 p.m., causing three coaches to derail. The death toll in the train incident rose to 14, and 50 people sustained injuries, as reported by the news agency ANI. According to ANI, out of the total number of deceased, seven people were identified, Vizianagaram SP Deepika said.

In the Odisha collision incident, derailed coaches rammed into a goods train moving on an adjacent track which further increased the impact of the collision. The collision took place 150 km from Odisha, which had witnessed one of the worst train tragedies in the country’s history nearly five months ago.

As many as 295 passengers lost their lives and several others sustained injuries in the triple train crashon June 2 near the Bahanaga Bazar station. The Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Expresshad entered the loop line, instead of the main line, and crashed into a goods train parked on the loop line. Such was the impact of the collision that coaches of Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express on the adjacent track were derailed.

After the incident, Railway officials had then said lapses in the signalling- circuit-alteration at North Signal Goomty station caused the train to enter the loop line and resulted in collision.

In the accident that took place on Sunday in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district, Visakhapatnam-Rayagada (08504) rammed into Visakhapatnam-Palasa (08532), which was waiting for signal. According to IANS, the loco of Rayagada passenger train and the guard coach of Palasa passenger were badly mangled in the collision. A couple of coaches of the Rayagada train climbed on the locomotive due to the impact of the collision. These coaches then rammed into a goods train passing on the adjacent track.

Two coaches of the Palasa train also rammed into the goods train. A total of eight coaches of two passenger trains and the goods train were involved in the crash. About 1,400 passengers were travelling in these two passenger trains, as per IANS. As the crash site was five kilometers away from Vizianagaram-Kothavalasa highway, rescue operation began and workers started shifting the injured to ambulances.

According to IANS, the rescue work by police, local authorities and railway personnel was hampered due to darkness. The train for Palasa (in Srikakulam district) had departed from Visakhapatnam at 5.45 p.m. Fifteen minutes later, the train for Rayagada (Odisha) had also departed on the same track. An hour later, the two trains collided.

Speaking on the incident, a fire official Suresh Kumar said, "After the accident yesterday, we were instructed by our DG and accordingly three teams came here from Odisha. We have been assisting the NDRF and SDRF in the rescue and restoration work," as quoted by the news agency PTI.