Why Kanchanjunga Express accident happened in West Bengal?
The accident occurred near Jalpaiguri railway station when the train Kanchenjunga Express was going from Agartala to Sealdah at around 9 am.
The train was moving on its scheduled route when it unfortunately collided with a goods train.
14 people lost their lives in this train accident and more than 46 people were seriously injured
This information was given by a senior official of the North Frontier Railway (NFR) on Monday morning.
The freight train that hit the Kanchenjunga Express from behind was allowed to cross all red signals because the automatic signalling had failed.
A railway source said the driver of the goods train was given a written approval, called TA 912, by the station master of Ranipatara, giving him authority to cross all red signals.
It said, "Automatic signalling has failed and you are authorised to cross all automatic signals between RNI (Ranipatra railway station) and CAT (Chattar Hat junction)."
It also said that there are nine signals between RNI and CAT and the goods train driver has the right to speed through all signals even if they are showing red or caution indication.
"TA 912 is issued when there is no obstruction or no train on the line in that section and it gives the driver authority to cross the red or caution signal," a railway source said.
It is a matter of investigation why the station master did this. He may have misunderstood that the previous train had crossed the station section and entered another section.
According to the Railways, the automatic signalling system between RNI and CAT was out of order since 5.50 am on Monday.