Teen killed, 23 hurt as CR local derails...
→ Mumbai: A 19-year-old HSC student died while 23 others were injured, three of them seriously, when a CST-bound local train from Kasara derailed near Titwala station on Thursday afternoon. Though the cause of the accident could not be immediately ascertained, it is believed to have been caused either due to decoupling of coaches or track-related failure.
→ The accident took place at around 2.40pm near pole number 61/37, between Ambivli and Titwala, when the local coming from Kasara derailed and six of its...
more... coaches moved around 500 metres from the rest of the train. A senior official said, “Either derailment led to the de-coupling of coaches or the decoupling may have caused the derailment. Neither possibility can be ruled out till a probe is carried out.” A statutory inquiry will be held by the commissioner of railway safety (central circle).
→ The accident’s only casualty, Ghatkopar resident Dhaval Lodaya, had just appeared for his HSC exam. He had gone to the Manas Jain temple at Asangaon with four friends after the exam and was on his way back when tragedy struck. GRP sub-inspector Nilesh Vaze said the injured were initially admitted to Rukminibai Hospital and Railway Hospital. ‘Decoupling unlikely to have caused derailment’
Railway officials said decoupling of coaches didn’t seem to be a plausible reason for Thursday’s train derailment near Titwala which killed a 19-year-old and injured 23 others, including the train’s guard.
Officials pointed out tha coaches 6 to 10 had derailed, while it was the coupling of coaches 7 and 8 that was found to be broken. “Coaches which get decoupled do not get derailed, it is coaches behind them which are usually affected,” and official said.
→ Central Railway’s general manager S K Sood reiterated the view. “I do no think that decoupling could have been reason, but it is difficult to ascertain the cause as this stage,” he said. Local railway officials said some track repair work had been carried out earlier in the day. But Sood said, “No major work was carried out on the track which could have led to such an incident.”
→ According to the Kalyan GRP team that is probing the incident, after the train derailed, those standing on the footboard fell down on impact and suffered injuries. Officials said the train may have been traveling at a speed of 60-70 kmph hour when it jumped tracks. Among those seriously injured in the derailment was the guard, R N Dubey (48). Two commuters who too suffered major injuries were moved to Sion Hospital. Three commuters were discharged from hospitals after initial treatment.
→ A CR official said, “Traffic on the Up and Down directions was suspended till late in the evening as the derailed coach had infringed on the Down tracks too. Shuttle services were operating between Titwala and Kasara and Amibivli to Kalyan. Moreover, two long-distance trains were held up.”
◙ INVESTIGATION ORDERED
Local railway officials claimed some track repair work had been carried out on Thursday. But senior CR officials said no major work was carried out on the track which could have caused such an incident.
Officials said decoupling didn’t seem plausible as coaches 6 to 10 were derailed, while the coupling of coaches 7 and 8 was broken. They said coaches which get decoupled do not get derailed, but it is coaches behind them are affected. A probe has been ordered
◙ FOLLOWING WILL BE CAUSE OF DERAILMENT:
On February 17: Five packed bogies got detached from a 12-car CST-Kalyan local. The separated bogies of the Central Railway train travelled a short distance before they came to a halt between Diva and Kopar stations around 6.30pm. Nobody was injured.
→ What The Probe Found | The pin used to join compartments, through the hole in the draw bar of a coupler, was made of welded material, which caused the accident
→ Causes For Derailment | From 2009, the Railways stopped using welded material for the pins, but many of the existing ones are yet to be replaced. The decision not to use welded material was taken as the draw bar pin takes substantial longitudinal force during train movement, which welding can’t sustain.
