Balasore train crash: Probe agency report reveals multiple lapses including wrong signaling & previous inaction

CRS also noted that the Odisha train accident could have been prevented if correction actions were taken after similar incidents in the past. Notably, reports had highlighted that officials had previously flagged flaws in the signalling system earlier and Balasore-like accidents had also been reported — though the scale of those accidents was nowhere close to that in Balasore.

"Notwithstanding the lapses in signalling work, remedial actions could have been taken by the S&T staff if 'repeated unusual behaviour' of switches connecting two parallel tracks were reported to them by the station manager of Bahanaga Bazar, the spot of the accident," reported PTI, citing the CRS report.

The report also said that the station-specific approved circuit diagram was not provided for repair-work near the site of the accident that was a "wrong step that led to wrong wiring", adding that a team of field supervisors modified the wiring diagram and failed to replicate it.

On June 2, a triple-train accident at Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha's Balasore killed 292 people and injured over 1,000. First, the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express crashed into a goods train. Then, some of its coaches derailed and hit the last two coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah train that was running on the adjacent tacks. Some coaches of the this train also derailed.

Following the massive triple train accident in Odisha's Balasore district, the South Eastern Railways (SER) shunted out five top officials last week.