In yet another incident involving railway staff’s signaling error, the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram Maveli Express unexpectedly came to a halt on the wrong track at Kanhangad Railway Station on a Thursday evening, causing alarm among passengers. Authorities quickly clarified that this was not a result of a system malfunction but rather a “human error” attributed to the station master.
The train, originally scheduled to arrive at Kanhangad at 6.33 pm, arrived about 10 minutes behind schedule, failing to follow the correct path to Platform No. 1. Instead, it stopped on the track situated between Platform No. 1 and Platform No. 2.
Addressing the situation, Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) Anil Kumar emphasized that the error lay with the Station Master, stating, “The SM wrongly signalled the train to take the middle track.” He confirmed over the phone from Palakkad that it was a human error on the part of the station manager and not a failure of the signaling system.
It’s important to note that this incident did not pose a threat of an accident, according to Anil Kumar. However, if another train had been scheduled on the middle track, the Station Master would have been unable to direct the Maveli Express to that track, he explained.
When questioned about how the Station Master made the mistake, the ADRM mentioned that the official had become distracted while assisting a passenger. Consequently, passengers stranded on the platform were provided with additional time to board the Maveli Express, which eventually departed Kanhangad at 6.54 pm.
This incident raises concerns about railway safety, particularly in light of a previous accident in Balasore, Odisha, where a signaling system failure resulted in 275 casualties in June. Railway Board member R N Sunkar had expressed concern about signaling staff taking “shortcuts” in a letter sent to general managers of all Zonal Railways in April. The letter highlighted five incidents in the early part of the year where trains had mistakenly taken the wrong track due to signaling errors, occurring in various locations including Lucknow (UP), Hosadurga (Karnataka), Ludhiana (Punjab), Kharkopar (Maharashtra), and Bagratawa (Madhya Pradesh). Sunkar’s letter underscored the need for improved safety protocols to prevent such incidents and the potential hazards they pose to train operations.
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