Siliguri: A goods train collided with the popular-with-tourists Kanchanjunga Express, killing 15 people and injuring at least 60 in Darjeeling district on Monday.
What possibly caused the Kanchanjunga Express collision?
Two factors have been singled out that likely contributed to the goods train’s collision with the Kanchanjunga Express.
Missing Kavach System
A missing Kavach system caused the train collision between the Kanchanjunga Express and the Goods train.
Kavach is a made-in-India system that prevents accidents if two trains travel on the same line. According to reports, the Kavach system was unavailable on the tracks in Darjeeling.
As an old video of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw explaining the Kavach system went viral following today’s crash, officials said the system is yet to be installed in much of the rail network across India.
Jaya Varma Sinha, Chairman of the Railway Board, informed NDTV that the Railways intends to implement the safety system on the Delhi-Guwahati route to cover more than 6,000 km of tracks by the following year. She mentioned that Bengal is included in the 3,000 km tracks to receive Kavach protection this year. Additionally, she stated that the system will be implemented on the Delhi-Howrah route.
Goods train overshot signal
Officials said the goods train rammed into the Kolkata-bound Kanchanjunga Express train this morning in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district had overshot the signal.
A senior railway official said the deceased included the pilot and co-pilot of the goods train and the guard of the passenger train.
It is worth mentioning that, 19 trains have been cancelled after the Kanchenjunga Express train met with an accident in the Phansidewa area of the Darjeeling district, West Bengal.
