Goods Train Derails On Privately-Run Line In Odisha, 3 Days After Tragedy

Three days after India's deadliest rail crash in more than two decades, which killed 275 people in Odisha's Balasore, another train, a goods train carrying limestone, has gone off the rails in the Bargarh area of Western Odisha, around 500 km away from the recent crash site. The East Coast Railway has said some wagons of a goods train operated by a private cement factory derailed inside the factory premises near Mendhapali of Bargarh district, and "there is no role of Railways in this matter".

"This is completely a narrow gauge siding of a private cement company. All the infrastructure including rolling stock, engine, wagons, train tracks (narrow gauge) are being maintained by the company," East Coast Railway said.

No casualties were reported, and only a few coaches were reportedly derailed.

The catastrophic three-train crash in Balasore has put in focus concerns around track maintenance, staff shortages, and rail safety. India's top auditing body, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in a 2022 report on derailments in Indian Railways sought to find out whether measures to prevent derailments and collisions were clearly laid down and implemented by the rail ministry. It flagged severe shortfalls in inspections, failure to submit or accept inquiry reports after accidents, not utilising a dedicated railway fund on priority tasks, a declining trend in funding track renewal, and inadequate staffing in safety operations as serious concerns.

Railways Minister Ahswini Vaishnaw has said the accident in Balasore was caused due to an issue with the "electronic interlocking system".

The first high speed passenger train - Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express - after the triple train accident, passed through Balasore this morning on restored tracks, officials said.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was present at the accident site and waved to the drivers when the semi-high speed train passed through, the officials said.