Indian Express: Chennai: Thursday, August 24, 2017.
On the day
the Railway Board chairman resigned following two derailments in the last one
week, it emerged that a retired locomotive pilot is fighting to bring out the
truth about an incident, which took place in Chennai earlier this year and
poses serious question over rail safety.
On May 3, a
locomotive pilot proceeding towards Washermanpet from Royapuram applied brake
after noticing about 10 metres of the track ahead removed. There were no
coaches attached to the engine.
Sources say
the Washermanpet home signal flashed the amber sign, which gives the permission
to the pilot to proceed with caution.
That should
not have happened as the ‘continuous track circuiting technology’ was in place.
If there is a break in the circuit, as in this case, the signal will
automatically turn red.
Express, in
its May 11 edition, carried a news report on this incident.
Realising the
magnitude, B Subba Reddy, a veteran pilot with more than three decades’
service, filed a right to information (RTI) petition on May 15. In his
petition, he sought to know about the action taken, besides requesting the data
log of the signal concerned.
In its reply
dated June 15, the Railways stated that the “inquiry is in progress” and failed
to provide the answers as “it would impede the process of investigation or apprehension/prosecution
of offenders.”
Unsatisfied
with the reply, Reddy approached the first appellant authority on July 12. He
is now waiting to hear back from the railways about his appeal.
Speaking to
Express, Reddy, who voluntarily retired in 2000, disapproved the explanation
given. “In the past, I have obtained enquiry reports, even from Commissioner of
Railway Safety, through RTI.
Furthermore,
by stating that the enquiry is in progress, it is a violation of the railway
accident manual, which mandates the DRM to forward the enquiry findings to
headquarters within 10 days,” he said.
In the light
of the recent Utkal Express tragedy, which has yet again brought into public
spotlight the issue of rail safety, Reddy said it was crucial that the railways
should respond to his request. “As a pilot myself, signal is essential to
ensure safe journeys. With regard to the May incident, the railways need to
come out in the open as signal abnormality can possibly place travelling public
in danger,” he stated.
Technical
error suspected behind signal abnormality
Chennai:
Sources say the Washermanpet home signal flashed amber sign, which gives the
permission to the pilot to proceed with caution. That should not have happened
as the ‘continuous track circuiting technology’ was in place. If there is a
break in the circuit, the signal will automatically turn red.
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