D.K. Singh, Commissioner, Railway Safety (South Central), on Sunday began the process to identify the reasons for the derailment of the Duronto Express from Secunderabad to LTT Mumbai at Martur Railway Station in Kalaburagi district in the early hours of Saturday which claimed the lives of two women passengers.
Mr. Singh, who was accompanied by technical staff and Divisional Railway Manager of the Central Railway Ajaykumar Dubey, after a detailed study of the accident spot and inspection of the track and the derailed bogies, told presspersons that he would be submitting a detailed report to the Railway Ministry within 25 days.
Mr. Singh said that the preliminary investigation and the inspection of the spot revealed that the derailment was not due to an act of sabotage. The other causes were being looked into and it was too early to say anything now, he added.
He said that he would hold a two-day sitting in Room No 4 (retiring room) at the Gulbarga Railway Station from Tuesday to record the statements of the driver of the Duronto Express, line staff who last checked the track near Martur Railway Station and technical staff.
Mr. Singh said that the general public can also give their statements, if any, and share any other information related to the accident.
Earlier, Mr. Singh, braving sweltering weather conditions, spent nearly three hours inspecting the derailed bogies and closely checking the condition of the railway track. Mr. Singh, who took a 2-km walk on the track, pointed out several discrepancies in track maintenance.
Mr. Singh spent more time inspecting the switch expansion joint (SEJ), the point where the Duronto Express appeared to have jumped the track, and questioned the maintenance staff about the three missing bolts in the switch expansion joint. He said that the staff had failed to ensure that the pandrol clips were fastened properly to the fish plates at several points.
At one point, Mr. Singh said that the track was not fit for operating trains at 110 kmph.
Now, investigation centres around switch expansion joint where the train jumped the track
