2023 Odisha train collision

Odisha train collision
Wreckage of three compartments of the Coromandel Express
Location of collision
Crash location on a map of India
Details
Date	2 June 2023 (2023-06-02) around 19:00 IST (13:30 UTC)
Location	Near Bahanaga Bazar railway station, Balasore, Odisha
Coordinates	21°20′17″N 86°45′52″E
Country	India
Operator	Indian Railways
Incident type	Derailment, double collision
Cause	Under investigation; Change in electronic interlocking from signalling error
Statistics
Trains	3 trains A goods train loaded with iron ore 12841 Coromandel SF Express between Shalimar and MGR Chennai Central 12864 SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah SF Express between SMVT Bengaluru and Howrah
Deaths	296
Injured	1,200+

On June 2, 2023, three trains collided in Balasore district in Odisha state of eastern India. The Coromandel Express entered the passing loop instead of the main line near Bahanaga Bazar railway station at full speed and collided with a goods train. Due to the high speed of the Coromandel Express, its 21 coaches derailed and three of those collided with the oncoming SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah Superfast Express on the adjacent track.

A total of 296 people were killed in the crash and more than 1,200 others were injured. It was India's deadliest railway crash since the Firozabad rail collision in 1995, although the Gaisal train collision in 1999 may have killed more people. It was also the deadliest rail disaster worldwide since the 2004 Sri Lanka tsunami train wreck.

Crash

Simplified diagram of the 2023 Odisha train collision

On June 2 June 2023, the 12841 Coromandel Express was travelling from Shalimar in Howrah, West Bengal, to MGR Chennai Central in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on the up main line at the Bahanaga Bazar railway station. Around the same time, the 12864 Bengaluru–Howrah Express was travelling in the opposite direction from SMVT Bengaluru in Bangalore, Karnataka, to Howrah on the adjacent down main line. Both trains, not scheduled to stop at the railway station and having received a green signal indicating it was safe to proceed along the main line, were at their highest permitted speed of 128 km/h (80 mph).

At about 19:00 IST (13:30 GMT), the Coromandel Express was supposed to continue straight on the up main line but was wrongly switched to the parallel up loop line at full speed, where it collided with a stationary goods train laden with iron ore. Because of the high impact speed, 21 coaches of the train were derailed from the main line. The goods train did not derail or move.

Three of the derailed coaches from the Coromandel Express careened into the adjacent track and whiplashed the tail end of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express, crossing the station at the same time. Two unreserved coaches and the brake van of the Bengaluru–Howrah Express were derailed. The remainder of the train, which included the engine and 20 coaches, left with its passengers and continued to Balasore, where a further damaged coach was detached. The remaining 19 coaches then continued their journey to the train's destination of Howrah. It was reported that the reserved compartments of the Bengaluru–Howrah Express sustained no passenger fatalities or injuries. Officials said that ascertaining the identification of passengers on the unreserved coaches would take time.

According to the Indian Railways spokesperson, the engine, parcel van, and two general coaches of the Coromandel Express were the worst impacted in the incident. According to Reuters’ analysis, on the two passenger trains, the carriages worst damaged were the non-air conditioned ones, some of which were unreserved coaches that are often the most crowded and that allow anyone with the cheapest category ticket to board without a specific seat reserved for them. These unreserved and general coaches are frequently used by migrant workers across India.

Emergency response

External videos
Aerial visuals of the accident site on 3 June via ANI on Twitter
Animated explanation of the accident by NDTV

Indian Railways published the reservation charts for both passenger trains on its website. The railways and the governments of Odisha, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu also issued helpline numbers. According to the Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena, three National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) units, four Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force units, more than 15 fire rescue teams, 100 doctors, 200 police personnel and 200 ambulances were mobilised for the rescue operations. It was reported that four other NDRF teams were on the way to the crash site. Local bus companies assisted in transporting injured passengers. Local civilians provided passengers with water and helped them retrieve their luggage where possible.

Members of the National Disaster Response Force on the site, June 3

A scene from interior part of inverted Coromandel coach after the collision, June 4

The Government of West Bengal sent 30 ambulances to assist with the rescue and recovery of the wounded. In addition, 40 doctors and several nursing staff were sent. The Government of Tamil Nadu sent a high level delegation comprising two state ministers and three IAS officers to Odisha to assist the passengers bound for Chennai and observe the situation. It also arranged a treatment facility with 70 beds at Chennai's Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.

Rescue operations being conducted at the crash site

The search for and recovery of trapped and injured passengers continued through the night of June 2 and was concluded in the afternoon of June 3 June. Search dogs were used to find survivors. South Eastern Railway announced that efforts had commenced to restore the crash site the next day. A number of locals from Balasore, Bhadrak, and Cuttack came to hospitals to donate blood.

Victims

A total of 296 people died in the crash. Almost all of the dead were in the first three cars of the Coromandel Express, in the so-called general category coaches, where many passengers stood. Bodies of deceased passengers were taken to a local high school, chosen due to its open spaces and location close to the crash site. Identification of bodies was made more difficult due to burns or other trauma, causing officials to use luggage, phones, and other belongings to try to identify the passengers. The rail service only had names for passengers with reserved seats.

Over 1,200 people were injured in the crash. By the evening of June 3, Odisha government officials said that 1,175 people had been admitted to hospitals as a result of the crash; 793 of those people had been released, and 382 were still undergoing treatment. Local hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured people, but worked to provide patients with adequate care.

Both the locopilot and assistant locopilot of the Coromandel Express survived the crash.

Aftermath

The railways announced that they would pay compensation of ₹10 lakh (US$12,000) to families of the deceased, ₹2 lakh (US$2,400) to the severely injured, and ₹50,000 (US$600) to those with minor injuries. Further, ex gratia compensation of ₹2 lakh from the PMNRF would be given to the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 to the injured.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that ₹5 lakh (US$6,000) in compensation would be paid to the families of passengers from West Bengal who had been killed, ₹1 lakh (US$1,200) to those who had been critically injured, and ₹50,000 to those with minor injuries.

Excavators clearing the tracks two days after the event

Following the crash, NDTV reported that at least 48 trains on the affected route had been cancelled, 39 trains had been diverted onto a different route, and 10 had been short-terminated; the Hindustan Times reported that more than 150 trains were impacted. The inaugural run of the Mumbai CSMT–Madgaon Vande Bharat Express, which had been scheduled for June 3 June, was cancelled. The Ministry of Civil Aviation directed airlines to ensure that airfares would not surge in response to increased travel demand. Bus fares in the region, however, showed a steep rise.

Two trains, the Bengaluru-Howrah Express and a special train, arrived at Howrah on June 3 with 643 passengers. Arrangements were made for the passengers' medical needs at the station. The critically injured had already been hospitalised in Balasore. Buses were arranged by the Regional Transport Office to take passengers home. Another train left from Bhadrak for Chennai with 195 stranded passengers. According to an official, it would also board passengers of the Coromandel Express at stations on the way. On June 3, a bus carrying passengers from the crash site to medical facilities in West Bengal crashed into another vehicle in West Bengal's Medinipur. Some passengers may have suffered minor injuries. The passenger train service resumed on June 5 June after more than 51 hours of restoration work.

Investigation

A preliminary investigation conducted by Kharagpur railway division officials indicates that the following occurred at the site of crash:

• The Coromandel Express was heading towards Chennai on a southbound line at a speed of 128 km/h (80 mph) and was initially given the signal to proceed on the main line. However, for unknown reasons, the signal was then taken off for the main line and the track was switched to a loop line adjacent to the main line.
• The Coromandel Express then hit the rear end of a stationary goods train, which was on the loop line. This caused the locomotive of the Coromandel Express to climb over the goods train wagon and caused the derailment of the Coromandel Express's 22 coaches.
• In the meantime, the Bengaluru-Howrah Express, which was heading towards Howrah on the northbound line at a speed of126 km/h (78 mph), was passing the Coromandel Express in the opposite direction. At the moment of the crash, most of the coaches of the Bengaluru–Howrah Express, but not its rear end, had passed the other train.
• When the Coromandel Express derailed, three of its coaches hit the last two coaches of the Bengaluru–Howrah Express; consequently, those five coaches saw the most casualties.

The railway authorities stated that the anti-collision system had not yet been deployed on the track where the collision happened, despite having been warned twice in the six months before the incident about the missing anti-collision signalling system and other shortcomings that contributed to causing the derailment. In February 2023, the principal chief operating manager of the South Western Railways zone wrote to the authorities after the Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express via Ballari Junction narrowly escaped a collision. He had warned South Western Railways that there would be derailments if the glitches in the signalling system remained unfixed. A December 2022 report on derailments by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India warned that a lack of adequate staffing in the safety department by the Indian Railways would impact the quality of maintenance. The report also stated that railway safety funds had fallen short of their target every year for the last four years and were misused to buy electrical appliances, furniture and jackets, develop gardens, and pay salaries and bonuses. That report contradicted the claims by Indian Railways that the accident was not a reflection of deeper safety issues in the system.

On June 4, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that a "change in electronic interlocking", an error in electronic signals, caused the crash. Railway Board member Jaya Varma said that the electronic interlocking system is "fail-safe" in 99.9% of cases but this rare case of failure might have been caused by a wire cut during digging or some sort of short circuit.

Vaishnaw said that the railway board had recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-led probe, a move that is a deviation from the normal procedure. He claimed that the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) "has investigated the matter.". A former longtime railway worker and board member questioned the government claim that they had identified the perpetrator even before identifying the cause of the crash, which is not yet known. They also stated that CRS personnel are more competent in the matter of railways than CBI. He said that an advantage of the investigation by CRS over the CBI probe is that the CBI probe will only identify the culprits, while the CRS investigation will also uncover systemic failures, providing a review of current safety precautions and methods in which the Railways can improve.

Vaishnaw also suggested someone had changed the point rails as an act of sabotage. A signalling inspector said this was "extremely unlikely" due to time constraints; typically the points are set in the correct direction after getting the signal that the train has passed the previous station, and once the points have been set, they cannot be reset for at least two minutes. At the speed the train was travelling, it would take 141 seconds to reach Bahanaga Bazar station from the previous station (Panpana), leaving less than 20 seconds for a potential saboteur to make the change. Altering the points would also require collusion with the station master. But even if the point were reversed, the question of signalling the green light for train to continue still remains unanswered.

On July 7 July 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced significant progress in the case related to the train accident. The CBI arrested three railway officials believed to be responsible for the accidents. The CBI statement identified them as one technician and two signal engineers employed with Indian Railways. They were charged with culpable homicide and destruction of evidence in a case filed against them.

Reactions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting victims of the crash at a hospital in Balasore, Odisha

Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, expressed his distress over the incident and extended his thoughts to the grieving families. Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the incident as "profoundly distressing.” Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed their concerns over the disaster. Leaders from neighbouring countries in India and across the world expressed their condolences for the loss of life, and extended support to India.

Both the Chief Minister of Odisha and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu declared a day of mourning and the latter announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh (US$6,000) to the kin of those who had died.

According to professor and columnist Apoorvanand, the train accident was used as an opportunity to demonise Muslims. Just after the train crash, posts by accounts known for spreading Hindutva and Bharatiya Janata Party propaganda started circulating on different social media platforms and WhatsApp groups, blaming Muslims for the accident.

Many opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Communist Party of India asked for Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's resignation.

Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the All India Congress Committee and former railway minister, referred to a letter from February in which he questioned the Ministry of Railways about their oversight of a crucial warning. He criticized the government for not implementing the anti-train-collision system. He stated that both the Prime Minister Modi and Railway Minister Vaishnaw seemed reluctant to acknowledge the existence of problems.

See also

• List of rail accidents (2020–present)
• List of railway accidents and incidents in India

References

Primary sources

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

External links

• Media related to 2023 Odisha train collision at Wikimedia Commons