Odisha train accident: Passenger trains back on track after restoration
What's the story
After nearly 60 hours of laborious rescue and restoration work following the triple train accident in Odisha's Balasore, passenger trains resumed operations on the repaired tracks on Monday.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was reportedly camping at the accident site, waved at passengers and crew, praying for their safe journey.
Notably, train services resumed following multiple trial runs on Sunday.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Work on restoring the damaged tracks began soon after the wreck was cleared at the accident site in Balasore, Odisha, where three trains crashed on Friday night, killing almost 290 people and injuring over 900 more.
Numerous trains were canceled, postponed, or diverted as a result of the accident.
Meanwhile, preliminary findings from the crash inquiry point to "negligence" and "signaling error."
Details
Services resumed after multiple trial runs
According to The Times of India, multiple trial runs on the damaged stretch (Chennai-Howrah) were completed late Sunday night, nearly 51 hours after the terrible train tragedy at Balasore's Bahanaga Bazar station.
Following a trial run of a trolley train, a goods train safely traversed the concerned section under the supervision of the railways minister and top authorities.
Twitter Post
Watch: Passenger and goods trains running at accident site
#WATCH | Indian Railways has started running passenger trains on the tracks which were affected due to #TrainAccident in Odisha’s Balasore pic.twitter.com/E9NTCv1ieO
— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2023
Statement
PM Modi ordered for quick restoration of services: Vaishnaw
Railways Minister Vaishnaw told ANI that repair operations began shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered them.
"The whole team labored diligently and systematically to fix the damaged rails for the resumption of services," he said, adding that both Up and Down lines were tested before service was reinstated.
On Sunday, Vaishnaw said that the tragedy happened due to a "change in electronic interlocking."
Quote
Vaishnaw praised workers for restoring services
"We have a deep pain in our hearts, but I also wish to congratulate all those who have worked relentlessly for restoring services," said Vaishnaw, who has reportedly been camping at the site since Saturday morning along with his cabinet colleague Dharmendra Pradhan.
Official
Canceled trains will be rescheduled: SER
According to the South Eastern Railway (SER), all trains on the Kolkata-Chennai trunk route will resume now.
"We'll reschedule the canceled trains and start restoring services," said Aditya Kumar Chowdhary, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of SER.
Over 90 long-distance trains had been canceled and another 50 diverted.
The crash involved a Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, a goods train, and a Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express.