Anekal derailment

The Anekal derailment occurred at 7.35 AM on 13 February 2015, when nine coaches of the Ernakulam-bound Intercity Express derailed near Anekal in the Bangalore Urban district of Karnataka, India. Ten people were killed and more than one hundred and fifty injured.[3]

Anekal derailment
Details
Date	13 February 2015 07:35 IST (UTC+05:30)
Location	Anekal, Karnataka
Coordinates	12.718072°N 77.710795°E / 12.718072; 77.710795
Country	India
Line	Bangalore City Junction – Ernakulam Junction
Operator	South Western Railway
Incident type	Derailment
Cause	Broken Rail[1]
Statistics
Trains	1
Deaths	10[2]
Injuries	150+
Damage	₹1.11 crore (equivalent to ₹1.3 crore, US$190,000, €170,000 or £150,000 in 2019)[1]

Accident

At 7:35 local time, nine bogies of the Bangalore-Ernakulam Intercity Express (Train No. 12677), operated by Indian Railways, derailed near Anekal in the Bidaragere area[4] near Mulagondapalli and Chandrapuram.[5] The accident occurred in a narrow lane of track. Passengers reported that within 3 to 5 seconds, they felt the carriage suddenly jerk and then the train came to a screeching halt with a loud crash. The D9 compartment crashed into the D8 and its bogie crushed the first 4 rows of seats of the D8 compartment. Many of the D8 passengers were trapped and some were killed.[6]

Rescue and recovery

Karnataka police and fire departments received dozens of calls from eyewitnesses, almost immediately after the derailment. The Karnataka Fire Department and voluntary rescue workers arrived at the scene minutes later and began removing survivors from the coaches.[7]

Investigation

An early press report regarding the upcoming preliminary report stated that the accident was caused by the railway engineers (track supervisors) who allowed the speed limit to be lifted prematurely in an area where a previous broken rail occurred. The report also says that there was no boulder on the track causing the accident.[8]

A preliminary report was issued 17 March 2015 by The Commissioner of Railway Safety which stated the cause was a broken rail. A track worker passed the accident site half an hour before the accident and saw no obvious defects nor any boulder. The railway reported financial damages from the accident of ₹1.11 crore (equivalent to ₹1.3 crore, US$190,000, €170,000 or £150,000 in 2019).[1]

According to a news report in January 2016, an official with the railway stated that a final report was sent by Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) Satish Kumar Mittal to the railway approximately November 2015. That report, which was still not public at the time, placed the blame chiefly on the Senior Section Engineer with culpability shared by the Loco-Pilot (Train Driver) and the Coach Factory which maintains the passenger coaches.[9]

The final report also states that the train was operating at less than 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), which was below the 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) speed limit. The report also gives the death toll as 9 with an injury count of only 42.[9]

The Section Engineer was assigned the brunt of the fault because he allowed full running speed on the section of track too quickly after another rail fracture had been repaired a few feet from where this derailment took place. That first fracture and repair had occurred the day before the accident. The Section Engineer was blamed because he allowed full running speed on the section of track less than 24 hours after the repair.[9]

The Coach Factory was blamed for allowing corrosion of the coach's undercarriages to become corroded and weakened which contributed to the severity of the accident. The Pilot was blamed for not having faster reaction time to the incident.[9] The labour union representing the Pilot, The All India Loco Running Staff Association, strongly objected to this assignment of blame. They state that since the train was operated at 63 kilometres per hour (39 mph), far below the speed limit, their driver cannot have any responsibility for the incident. They also claimed the accident was not caused by boulders on the tracks.[10]

References

1. "Broken Rail Caused Anekal Accident, Says Probe Report". The New Indian Express. Express Network Private Limited. Express News Service. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
2. "10 dead, over 150 injured as Ernakulam-bound Inter City Express derails near Bengaluru" (13 February 2015). Yahoo India. PTI. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
3. Balakrishnan, Deepa (13 February 2015). "Karnataka: 3 dead, over 60 injured as 9 coaches of Bangalore-Eknakulam express train derails". IBN Live. Cable News Network. Press Trust of India. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
4. Google map
5. "2 Killed, Several Injured as Train Derails Near Tamil Nadu's Hosur" (13 February 2015). NDTV Convergence Limited. Press Trust of India. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
6. "5 feared dead as Bengaluru-Ernakulam train derails". The Hindu (13 February 2015). 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
7. "Bangalore-Ernakulam Express derails near Hosur; at least 3 dead, 60 injured". Hindustan Times (13 February 2015). HT Media. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
8. "Engineers' negligence blamed for B'luru-Ernakulam train accident". Deccan Herald. The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd. DHNS. 8 March 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
9. Lalitha, S (14 January 2016). "Engineer, Coach Factory, Driver Chargesheeted for Anekal Train Mishap". The New Indian Express. Express Network Private Limited. Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
10. "Loco pilots reject rly report on Anekal train accident". Deccan Herald. The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.