RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY: A Brief up on the Fire Accident Involving Train No. 12622 New Delhi - Chennai

An unfortunate fire accident occurred on Train No. 12622 New Delhi - Chennai Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore Railway Station on Vijayawada-Gudur Section of Vijayawada Division in the early hours at about 04.20am on 30th July, 2012. The fire occurred in S-11 Coach, which is situated 5th from the rear of the train. The fire was noticed by Station Master, Nellore while it was passing through and the train was brought to a halt immediately between Nellore and Vedayapalem stations. The fire was brought under control by 05 20 hrs. The remaining coaches of the train were isolated and the unaffected portion of the train was run toChennai. The burnt coach was cleared to Nellore Station. As per the latest information available, the rescue teams have retrieved 28 dead bodies( 19 Male, 6 Female and 3 Children) from the ill fated S-11 Coach and in addition 4 more bodies in unrecognizable condition have also been recovered.

Normal train traffic o­n the Nellore-Gudur section was restored and the trains regulated on the section started running by 07.45 hrs. Due to this accident, 6 Passengers trains were fully cancelled and 4 passenger trains were partially cancelled.

South Central Railway undertook concerted efforts with the active co-operation of the state government officials to organise immediate rescue and relief measures Prompt relief measures were taken up to minimize loss of lives and to provide necessarymedical attention. A Medical Relief Van and Accident Relief Train were immediately rushed to the spot from Bitragunta, while the fire brigade from Nellore reached the spot by 04.40 Hrs and brought the fire under control by 05.20 Hrs.Railway officials from Vijayawada Division led by Divisional Railway Manager reached the accident site too versee the rescue and relief operations.Sri G. N. Asthana, General Manager , South Central Railway and other Senior officials also proceeded to the spot by a special train from Secunderabad to monitor the situation.The District Collector and SP/ Nellore District and other local officials were amongst the first to reach the spot and join the rescue and relief efforts.

The Disaster Management Control Room of the Zone at Secunderabad was immediately activated and a team of Senior officers from various departments camped to constantly monitor the field situation and guide the relief operations. Information was disseminated o­n a continuous basis to the Media.

Help Lines were set up promptly - at Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Nellore and Warangal to enable the anxious kith and kin of the passengers to access information o­n the safety and condition of those travelling by the train.

The Help Line numbers are as follows:

Secunderabad - 040-27786723, 27700868

Nellore- 0861- 2345863, 2345864, 2345865, 2345866

Vijayawada-0866- 2576924, 2575038

Warangal-0870 -2426232, 09701371063



A special train from Chennai has been run, carrying the relatives and friends of the affected passengers, which reached Nellore station in the afternoon. Efforts are underway to identify the bodies of the deceased.

Railways have announced an enhanced Ex- gratia of Rs. 5 Lakhs to the kin of he deceased passengers, Rs. 1 Lakh to those grievously injured and Rs. 25,000 to the passengers with simple injuries.

A high level inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, South Central Circle has been ordered to investigate into the cause of this tragic Fire Accident. Shri Mukul Roy, Hon'ble Minister of Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa, Hon'ble Minister of State for Railways, Shri Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board
and Shri Khulbhushan, Member Electrical, Railway Board have also rushed to Nellore to take stock of the situation and monitor the relief arrangements. They would also be visiting the injured passengers admitted in various hospitals at Nellore.

  Indian Railways News  / Railway safety fund demanded

Senior BJP leader and former railway minister for state B Dattatreya on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding restoration of the BJP- era Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF) and allotting Rs 27,000 crore for the same.

He wrote the two-page letter following the inferno in the Chennai-bound Tamilnadu express which claimed 32 lives on Monday and demanded more safety for the commuters travelling in the trains.

The BJP leader strongly objected to railway minister Mukul Roy’s statement in which he termed ‘sabotage’ as a possible reason for the inferno. Dattatreya criticised Roy’s comment as ‘unfortunate’ and ‘baseless’.

To strengthen his point, he recalled the August 2008 Gowthami Express rail accident in which 32 people were charred to death. The railway authorities had stated that it was a conspiracy only to find out later that short circuit was the reason behind the accident.

  Indian Railways News  / No proof of sabotage, say forensic experts

A two-member team of the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratories (APSFL) on Tuesday took the sting out of the railways’ argument that the fire on the Tamil Nadu Express on Monday could have been an act of sabotage.

The forensic experts said they could not find any evidence lending credence to the suspicion of sabotage. But, the exact cause of the mishap would be revealed in a detailed report to be submitted to the government, they said. With the forensic experts’ opinion, railway authorities would now be in a fix as safety lapses would be back in focus.

APFSL assistant director Venkateshwarlu arrived at Nellore station on Tuesday morning to collect samples to know the exact reasons for the fire accident that killed 32 passengers on board. The collection of samples continued till late evening. Though he refused to come to an early conclusion on the cause of the fire, Venkateswarlu told mediapersons that they did not find any explosive material that could have caused the fire. The Nellore police also had no information on the matter.

Speaking to Express, SP BV Ramana Kumar said that the whole probe was being conducted by railway police and other wings and the forensic lab report would be crucial in determining the cause of the fire. Of the 28 injured, 13 had been discharged. Of the remaining 15, nine were in a critical but stable condition.

  Indian Railways News  / बिन बिजली गुजरी आधी से ज्यादा रात

अंबाला शहर: सोमवार तड़के पौने तीन बजे के बाद अंबाला शहर रेलवे स्टेशन से गुजर रही माल गाडि़यों के चक्के अचानक रुक गए। बाद में पता चला कि उत्तरी ग्रिड के अचानक फेल हो जाने से पूरे उत्तर भारत में ही रेलगाडि़यों के पहिये रुक चुके हैं। इसके चलते लोगों की आधी से ज्यादा रात बिना बिजली के ही गुजरी। रविवार रात 2 बजकर 33 मिनट पर उत्तरी ग्रिड के फेल हो जाने के कारण यह स्थिति बनी। पूरे क्षेत्र में सुबह सात बजे तक बिजली नदारद रही जिसके चलते लोगों को भरी परेशानी का सामना करना पड़ा और पूरी रात बिजली सुविधा के बिना ही गुजारनी पड़ी। ग्रिड के फेल हो जाने का बड़ा असर रेलवे पर भी पड़ा है। ग्रिड फेल होने के कारण उत्तर भारत में बिजली से चलने वाली सभी ट्रेने रात करीब अढ़ाई बजे से रेल पटरियों पर जहां की तहां रुक जाने को मजबूर हो गई। ग्रिड फेल होने के समय शहर रेलवे स्टेशन पर दो मालगाडि़यां जहां की तहां रुक गई। एक मालगाड़ी के चालक संदीप कुमार को कहना था कि अभी तक इस बात का पता नहीं है कि खराब हुआ ग्रिड कब ठीक होगा। शहर के स्टेशन मास्टर कृष्ण कुमार की माने तो बिजली से चलने वाली सभी ट्रेनें पूरी तरह प्रभावित हैं। कई यात्री गाड़ियों को डीजल इंजन मुहैया करवा चलाया गया है। उनके अनुसार डीजल पर्याप्त ना होने के कारण समस्या बरकरार है। उन्होंने बताया कि अभी तक ना तो ग्रिड की खराबी का कारण पता लग पाया है और ना ही इसके ठीक होने तक का समय। सुबह साढ़े सात बजे तक बिजली ना आने से रेल व्यस्था ठप रही वही स्टेशन पर कोई खास सुविधा ना होने से यात्री परेशान नजर आए। रेल यात्रियों के अलावा बिजली गुल होने से आम जनजीवन भी बुरी तरह से प्रभावित रहा। हालांकि रात को तो लोग इसे विभाग द्वारा लगाया गया बिजली कट ही मानते रहे किंतु सुबह ही उन्हें मामले की असलियत का पता चल पाया। सुरेश, रमेश, आशीष, राजीव, प्रदीप आदि का कहना था कि अंबाला के लोग तो वैसे ही बिजली कटों के आदि हो चुके हैं।

  Indian Railways News  / MDMK launches campaign for better rail infrastructure

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) on Wednesday launched a campaign aimed at mobilising public support towards the poor rail infrastructure in the region and to exert pressure on the State and Central Governments to bring in new projects to develop public transportation-related infrastructure for Coimbatore to accelerate its growth.The campaign was launched by District Secretary of the party V. Easwaran and City Unit Secretary R.R. Mohankumar at Sundarpuram.

Peripheral areas

It covered the peripheral areas of Coimbatore City (some of them now annexed to the Corporation) namely Aatuppalayam, Kuniamuthur, Kovaipudur, Perur, Vedapatti, Vadavalli, Idayarpalayam, Kavundampalayam, Thudialur, Saravanampatti, Kalapatti, Chinniampalayam and Sulur.The campaigners urged the State to expedite measures for getting metro rail project for Coimbatore City. They pointed out that the Urban Development Ministry of the Union Government in 2011 announced metro rail project for 19-tier two cities.

They said that while many cities have reached the stage of finalising the Detailed Project Report (DPR), it was unfortunate that no work has commenced in Coimbatore. Even Kerala was getting ready for a metro rail for Kochi and mono-rail for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. Any project for that matter would require six to eight years for bringing in a transportation system into use.

Similarly, they also pointed out that in railway projects with State participation, ten States have tied up with the Indian Railways for 31 projects for 5,000 km and Karnataka was topping the list with 14 projects.

Unfortunately, there is not a single project for even one km as far as Tamil Nadu was concerned. They urged the State Government to grab the opportunity and explore the feasibility of a broad gauge line from Coimbatore to Karur.

They also demanded measures to expedite the various railway projects moving at a snail’s pace in Coimbatore such as Podanur – Palani gauge conversion and a number of road overbridges across level crossings.