Train ‘mistakenly’ entered loop where…: What Southern Railway said on Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express collision

The Southern Railway has said the Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express which rammed into a stationary goods train on late Friday night “mistakenly the loop line where the goods train became stationed, resulting within the collision which left as a minimum 10 people injured. A senior official said the Bagmati Express became on its approach to Darbhanga, Bihar from Mysuru in Karnataka when it collided with a stationary goods train at Kavaraippettai Railway Station in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur below Chennai division of the Southern Railway.

“This train became going towards Gudur and further to Andhra Pradesh, and by technique of Odisha it can in all probability in all probability have gone to Darbhanga after starting from Mysuru. As it passed through this station (Kavaraippettai), a goods train became stabled on the loop line, which became given precedence,” Southern Railway General Manager RN Singh told reporters, per news agency ANI.

Singh said the Bagmati Express became speculated to maneuver at some point of the principle line without stopping as there will likely be no scheduled stop at the Kavaraippettai station, adding that proper signals were provided to the train for the principle line.

“On the alternative hand, it became unusual that despite having signals for the principle line, the train entered the loop line where the goods train became standing and collided with the goods train from at the back of, causing the engine to derail. Fortunately, both the loco pilot and the assistant loco pilot are unharmed. After taking their statements, we can relieve them,” the official added.

Singh stated that there were no casualties within the mishap and rescue teams from railway, fire department, railway police, and state police were rushed to the scene along with ambulances, railway doctors, and senior officers.

Bagmati Express crash

As many as 12 coaches of the Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express (Train No.12578) derailed after it rammed into a stationary goods train at Kavaraippettai Railway Station near Chennai on Friday night, leaving 19 passengers injured. The incident took place at around Eight:30 PM on the Chennai-Gudur section between Ponneri and Kavaraippettai railway stations.

“The passenger train collided with a goods train. There were around 1,360 passengers on board. We reached the spot straight away after receiving information. Chief Minister MK Stalin has instructed us to make certain the rescue operation proceeds straight away. Following his orders, we made sure all passengers were safely evacuated,” ANI quoted Tiruvallur District Collector T Prabhushankar as saying.

The collector said that 19 passengers were injured within the accident, with four of them sustaining severe injuries. “The injured were rushed to a medical institution and their condition is stable,” he said.

Meanwhile, the collision affected affected movement of trains on the total section, forcing railways to divert or operate trains by technique of alternate routes. Over 1/2 a dozen trains were diverted on Friday night.

(With ANI inputs)