On 17 June 2024, two

trains collide A train accident or train wreck is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track, when the wheels of train come off the ...

d in Darjeeling district in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. A goods train collided with Sealdah–Agartala Kanchanjunga Express, a passenger train near Rangapani railway station. About 11 people were killed and more than 60 were injured in the accident.

Crash

On 17 June 2024, Kanchanjunga Express (Train No. 13174), a passenger train was traveling from

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

Sealdah Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Etymology Jackals (''sheal'' in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata ...

. The train had left New Jalpaiguri Junction, crossed Rangapani railway station, a non-stopping station at 8:27

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and stopped some distance before the

Chatterhat railway station Chattarhat railway station is a railway station on Katihar–Siliguri branch of Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line in the Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is situated at Paschim Bansgaon Kismat, Chattarhat of Darjeeling ...

on the Katihar–Siliguri line, waiting for clearance to proceed further. At 8:45, a goods train (Train no: GFCJ) crossed the Rangapani station and was proceeding on the same line. At 8:55, the goods train rammed the stationary passenger train from behind, causing three coaches of the Kanchenjunga Express to derail.

Victims

Ten people were killed and more than 60 were injured in the collision. The loco pilots of the goods train and the train manager of Kanchanjungha Express were amongst those killed. More than 60 people were injured and the injured were treated at

North Bengal Medical College North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMC&H) is a public university, public medical school, medical college and hospital in Siliguri, West Bengal, India. Established in 1968, it is the first medical college in the northern region of Wes ...

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

Aftermath

The Railways minister,

Ashwini Vaishnaw Ashwini Vaishnaw (born 18 July 1970) is an Indian politician, former Indian Administrative Service, IAS officer and a businessman serving as the 39th Minister of Railways (India), Minister of Railways, the 35th Ministry of Information and Broad ...

visited the site to oversee the response. The

Ministry of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure ...

announced a compensation of for the dead, for those seriously injured and for those with minor injuries.

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

announced a compensation of for the dead and for the injured from the

Prime Minister's National Relief Fund Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) in India is the fund raised to provide support for people affected by natural and man made disasters. Natural disasters covered under this include flood, cyclone, earthquake etc. Man made disasters in ...

(PMNRF).

Chief Minister of Tripura The chief minister of Tripura, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Tripura. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor of Tripura is the state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief min ...

Manik Saha Manik Saha (born 8 January 1953) is an Indian politician serving as the 11th and current Chief Minister of Tripura since 2022. He represents the Town Bordowali Assembly constituency in the Tripura Legislative Assembly since 2022. He was also t ...

announced a compensation of for the victims who were from Tripura. More than 19 trains were cancelled and 22 train were diverted in the aftermath of the crash. Rail traffic on the line towards

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

resumed in the evening on the same day and the other line was restored on the morning of 18 June.

Causes

The chairman of the

Railway Board The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the rail transport in India, country's rail transport. The Indian Railways is the rail network operated and administered by the Railway Board constituted by t ...

said that the operator of the goods train ignored multiple red signals, which might have caused the crash. The train operators union criticised the statement as premature. Railway sources said the cause of the incident may have been a faulty automatic signal, which was defective since 5:50 IST. The trains were not equipped with

Kavach Kavach may refer to: * Kavach (anti-missile system), an Indian anti-missile naval decoy system * Kavach (train protection system), Indian Railways train protection system * Kavach (TV series), an Indian supernatural horror drama television series ...

, a collision avoidance system designed by

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. Preliminary investigation revealed that the trains were issued manual clearances called TA 912 by the station master of the Rangapani station to ignore the faulty signals. The passenger train had traveled some distance from the station and was stationery on the track, awaiting further clearance. In case of a signal failure, Indian railway rules (GS&R 9.02) stipulate that the loco pilots should operate at speeds less than , wait for one minute at each red signal and ensure that the track is visually clear for at least before proceeding. A T/A 912 clearance is typically granted when there are no other obstructions present along the section and is used to override the stipulated rules. Hence, the manual clearance issued to the goods train placed it on a collision course with the stationary passenger train and excessive speed was also considered as a contributing factor to the eventual accident. On 21 June 2024,

East Central Railway The East Central Railway (abbreviated ECR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at and comprises , , , and divisions. History First set up on 8 September 1996 with headquarters at Hajipur, Bihar, East Central R ...

banned the issuance of T/A 912 until further notice.

Reactions

Indian President The president of India (ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu is the ...

Draupadi Murmu Droupadi Murmu (born Durgi Biranchi Tudu; 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the president of India since 2022. She won the 2022 presidential election as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. She is the first ...

said she would pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. On 17 June, Prime Minister Modi offered his condolences and said that rescue operations were underway.

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

leader

Mallikarjun Kharge Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (; born 21 July 1942) is an Indian lawyer and statesman serving as the President of the Indian National Congress since 2022 and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha since 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament, ...

offered his condolences and criticised the central government for mismanaging the ministry of railways. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that a thorough investigation would be conducted.

West Bengal Chief Minister The chief minister of West Bengal (IAST: Paścim Baṅgēr Mukhya Mantrī) is the '' de facto'' head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal, the subnational authority of the Indian state of West Bengal. The chief minister is h ...

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

said that the state is helping with the rescue operations and criticised the central government for not focusing on passenger safety.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West Bengal train collision, 2024 2024 disasters in India

Train collision A train accident or train wreck is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track, when the wheels of train come off the ...

June 2024 in India Railway accidents in 2024 Derailments in India

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Train collisions in India Darjeeling district