A preliminary investigation into the recent Secunderabad-Shalimar express train derailment at Nalpur station in West Bengal has found that the incident took place due to signal malfunctioning, railway sources said on Monday.

The probe, conducted by five railway officials, also highlighted a serious irregularity that the station master didn’t enter the failure of signal number 10 in its register nor did he issue any signal failure memo to the Signal and Telecom Department, the sources said.

Railway signal staff said the irregularity requires serious attention as it has occurred in the same Kharagpur Division where the Balasore triple train crash had happened on June 2, 2023 in which around 300 passengers were killed.

Railway officials are tight-lipped on the probe findings. “We cannot say anything till the report of the proper inquiry, which is undergoing, comes out,” said a South Eastern Railway official.

On November 9, three coaches of the Secunderabad-Shalimar Superfast Express derailed near Howrah in West Bengal. The derailment didn’t cause any casualty because, the sources said, the train's speed was around 30 kmph due to speed restriction.

According to the sources, the derailment took place when the train was crossing an interlocking point which was reserved due to some malfunctioning, causing the engine to remain on the main line while the coaches diverted to the middle line.

The 1st, 5th and 6th coaches derailed at about 5:35 in the morning, they said.

Though the site of derailment has little to do with the failure of signal number 10 as it happened on some other signal, yet the investigation of the incident has brought to light this serious irregularity, the sources said.

The Signal & Telecom Maintainers Union said that, as per the norm, the station master should have issued a failure memo to the S&T Department and entered this failure in its entry register which he didn’t do.

“Even the S&T Department should have served a disconnection memo to the station master which means that no train will be operated from the particular signal till a reconnection memo is issued after rectifying the fault. However, the S&T Department also didn’t do that,” a signal staff member said.

“It's very tragic that the on-duty station master failed to follow the due procedure. It was bound to happen as the basic norms were flouted. What makes this incident more serious is that it happened in the same rail division where the Balasore triple train crash took place almost one-and-a-half years ago,” Alok Chandra Prakash, General Secretary, Indian Railway S&T Maintainers Union, said.

He added, “It also suggests that there is something wrong with the work culture in that particular division as shortcuts are being preferred to get things done. The Railway Board should look deeper into the problem of the division to get to its root cause.”

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