Howrah Vande Bharat Express crosses restored track in Balasore after Odisha train tragedy

Balasore (Odisha), June 5: Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express train on Monday crossed the restored railway track in Odisha's Balasore, where the tragic triple train accident took place, hours after the passenger train services were resumed in the district.

The Odisha triple train accident occurred around 7 p.m. on June 2 near the Bahanaga Baazar station in the Balasore district, around 250 kilometres south of Kolkata and 170 kilometres north of Bhubaneswar. It involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Express and the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express – as well as a goods train. Indian Railways resumed passenger trains on the accident-affected route on Monday morning.

The massive tragedy in Odisha's Balasore killed 275 people and injured over 1,000 more.

Meanwhile, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw waved to the crew of a goods train on Sunday evening and wished them a safe journey as services resumed after 51 hours due to a railway accident in Balasore.

"Services on both tracks have been restored. Normal train services on both lines have now been restored, 51 hours after the accident," said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Vaishnaw stated on Sunday that the accident was caused by a "change in electronic interlocking."

Electronic interlocking is a system of signalling devices that prevents conflicting movements between trains through an arrangement of tracks.

It is essentially a safety measure to prevent signals from being changed in the wrong sequence. The goal of this system is to ensure that no train receives a signal to proceed unless the route has been confirmed safe.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the deadly Odisha train accident has been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The way this accident happened, looking at the conditions, and according to the administrative information. The Railway Board is recommending the probe to the CBI," Vaishnaw said.

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