Bihar train accident: Failure to detect flaws promptly caused derailment in October 2023, says CRS probe
The Hindu
Proper rail monitoring crucial for safety, Railways exploring real-time track health monitoring, improving rail quality, and safety measures.
“The failure to detect the flaws in the rail promptly caused the derailment of the North-East Express at Raghunathpur Station in Danapur Division of East Central Railway on October 11, 2023,” said a final investigation report by Suvomoy Mitra, then Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) (Eastern Circle). At least four people were killed and several others were injured in the accident in Bihar's Buxar district.
"Stricker monitoring should be exercised in controlling the various processes involved in manufacture of rails. Railway may consider exploring possibilities of Real Time Monitoring of the health of track, one of the recommendations of the report recently submitted to the Railway Board," it added.
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The Railways in its action taken report said that continuous improvement and upgradation are being done by it and the rail manufacturing plant of SAIL/Bhilai for ensuring better quality of steel making and rail rolling. It mentioned several steps taken to improve the chemical and metallurgical properties of rails too.
Regarding proper monitoring of track health, it said that various modules in the Track Management System (TMS) are operational. "These include monitoring of USFD (Ultrasonic Flaw Detection) testing of rails and welds. USFD operators regularly feed the USFD testing data of rail and weld during daily USFD testing on TMS," the Railways said.
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"These USFD testing data are monitored regularly at all concerned levels for necessary maintenance," it added. Addressing the concern of the CRS for real-time monitoring of the health of tracks, the Railways said three technologies are under trial for broken rail detection systems in various zonal railways.
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