Chief managing director defends KR over Nagothane derailment

Chief managing director of Konkan Railway (KR) Banu P. Tayal on Tuesday came out in defence of KR after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) Chetan Bakshi alleged that it had wrapped up maintenance of Diva-Sawantwadi coaches which derailed last year in just three hours instead of the allotted time of six hours.

Mr Tayal said that KR has moved from the old method of checking a train’s safety parameters to a new and mechanised method which takes only four-and-a-half hours to complete both safety checks and washing of the train.

“We now have a machine that washes our train in 45 minutes and we have also designed a maintenance schedule that makes optimum use of labour.

“KR has been following this new technique for the past few years, but that does not mean we have taken any shortcuts while maintaining the coaches that derailed at Nagothane,” he said.

The KR CMD has also written to the Railway Board, asking for reduction in current maintenance hours per train. “The circular asking 15 zones in India to maintain 24-coach passenger trains was issued 20 years ago.

“We have requested the Railway Board to reduce maintenance time to four-and-a-half hours. We are waiting for their decision,” he said.

On May 4 last year, five coaches of the Diva-Sawantwadi train had derailed inside a tunnel between Nagothane and Roha, killing 22 passengers on board and injuring more than 60.

The report released by the CRS last week not only pulled up KR but also Central Railway (CR) for not maintaining the railway track properly and Southern Railway (SR) for an ill-maintained loco-engine which was the first one to derail.

KR had completed maintenance of the coaches in Madgaon a day before the train’s journey. The CRS has submitted the report to the Railway Board as well as all three railways held responsible.

The trio has to now reply to the Railway Board as to what actions will be taken to ensure that such accidents are not repeated in future.