RailEnquiry

Accidental igniting of fire crackers on board the ill-fated S-11 coach of the Tamil Nadu Express was the most probable cause of the blaze that claimed the 30 lives, including three children.This was the finding of the probe conducted by Dinesh Kumar Singh, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), South Central Circle, Secunderabad. The unusual occurrence falls under the category of ‘Failure of persons other than Railway Staff’, the officer concluded.It was found that against a capacity of 72 passengers, there were 75 adults and four children travelling in the S-11 coach. While 22 other passengers suffered simple injuries, the rest managed to escape to other coaches.The report corroborated with the findings of the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Sciences Laboratory that chemicals used in making crackers, like potassium, nitrate and sulphur were found in the coach.In his recommendations, the CRS suggested to the Railways to widely publicise the dangers associated with carrying inflammable material in passenger trains. He also wanted strict enforcement of the provisions of section 67 of the Indian Railways Act, 1989 by empowering and making responsible the ticket checking staff and Railway Protection Force staff escorting the passenger trains.Mr. Dinesh Kumar Singh also called for ensuring proper maintenance of the emergency lights in passenger coaches. He said the emergency light circuit should be modified and push button for testing the working of emergency lights provided as per the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO), an ISO 9001 R&D organization under the Ministry of Railways of India that functions as a technical advisor and consultant to the Railway Board.The report said Indian Railways should expeditiously switch over to the use of Brushless DC (Direct Current) Motor in passenger coaches because they do not have moving electrical contacts and eliminate problems associated with carbon brushes and commutator.Mr. Singh recommended that terminal connectors be used at fan and lightings. He said loose joints between aluminium cable and copper cable should be avoided as they were prone to degradation resulting in hotspots.