Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday demanded the resignation of Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw holding him accountable for the train accident that took place in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

The mishap killed 14 people.

The Congress said the train accident in Andhra Pradesh appears to be a repeat of the Balasore train accident that took place on June 2 this year.

In both cases, the fault in the signal system has led to accidents, the Congress said.

Addressing the media, senior Congress leader and former minister Panchanan Kanungo said: “Two major accidents have taken place in a span of five months. No steps are being taken for the improvement of rail infrastructure and signal system in the railways.

“Instead of working on this front, the railway minister is focusing on running Vande Bharat Express trains to gain cheap popularity. The railway minister should own responsibility for the accident and resign.”

Congress spokesperson Prashant Satpathy said: “In 2022-23, so far 18 train accidents have occurred.

“The lack of proper maintenance of railway tracks and digital signal systems led to the accidents. Instead of improving the system, attempts are being made to privatise different works of the railway.”

In both the rail accidents — at Bahanaga in Balasore district of Odisha on June 2 and at Kantakapalli in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday — the cause of the accident was a failure in the operation of the signal system, the source said.

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) said the train accident under Waltair Division of East Coast Railway in Andhra Pradesh is suspected to have been caused by the overshooting of signals.

“The likely reason is overshooting of signals by the Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger train,” the ECoR in a media release said.

Odisha revenue minister Sudam Marandi on Monday reached the accident site. He inspected the rescue and relief operations at the accident site.