Bagmati Express collision: Loco pilot, assistant among dozen staff summoned for inquiry

CHENNAI: More than a dozen Southern Railway officials in various capacities have been summoned to appear for the statutory inquiry of the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to be held at the zonal railway headquarters here on Saturday afternoon.

In the circular issued on Saturday afternoon, Mohammed Shameem, Deputy Chief Safety Officer of SR headquarters, summoned the officials for the inquiry.

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The list of staff summoned includes the loco pilot and assistant loco pilot of Bagmati Express, motorman of MEMU no 42425, on-duty station masters of Kavaraipettai and Ponneri stations, section controller and station manager of Kavaraipettai station, traffic inspector in-charge of the station, nominated chief loco inspectors of train no 12578 Bagmati Express and MEMU train no 42425, senior section engineer at Ponneri in-charge of Kavaraipettai station, senior section engineer who attended the maintenance of the express train, senior section engineers, traffic inspectors, chief loco inspectors and other supervisors who recorded the joint note at the site after the accident, gate keepers of level crossings between Ponneri and Kavaraipettai, and also the travelling ticket examiner of the coach involved in the accident.

Even the AC staff and staff involved in linen distribution on board Bagmati Express have been summoned for the inquiry.

The Deputy Chief Safety Officer has instructed these staff to appear for the statutory inquiry with all relevant documents at the zonal headquarters regarding the collision of Mysuru - Darbhanga Bagmati Express.

AM Chowdhary, CRS - Southern Circle, Bengaluru, who inspected the accident site in the morning, is expected to hold the inquiry with the summoned railway staff at the zonal headquarters at 3.30 pm on Saturday.

Also read: Bagmati express train collision could have been another Balasore tragedy. Two lucky breaks prevented it

In its first statement issued after the accident, SR headquarters stated that the express train entered the loop line at 75 kmph instead of the main line for which the signal was given. The express train collided with the rear of the stabled freight train on the loop line at 8.30 pm on Friday at Kavaraipettai station.