Kerala: Lapse in maintenance led to derailment; one suspended

Kochi: A day after derailment of the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Express at Karukutty near Angamaly, an internal preliminary investigation has reportedly found lapse in the part of officials entrusted with track maintenance. It is reliably learnt that the Railways has suspended a Permanent Way Inspector in this regard. However, senior divisional railway officers refused to confirm the development saying the probe was on.

The internal probe by the Engineering department has found that ‘rail fracture’ was detected at the section a few months back. However, proper maintenance was not done. Instead of welding separated track points, the officials carried out temporary repair using bolt and screw, sources said. "The officer concerned was suspended for not submitting a report in this regard to the higher officials," sources said.

The latest development comes even as the four-member committee, formed to probe into the derailment headed by Chief Safety Officer John Thomas, visited the mishap site on Monday. He cited rail fracture as the cause for the derailment and ruled out any lapse from operating staff. Meanwhile, the Railway Police has lodged a case over the derailment and will conduct a separate probe into the mishap.

"A parallel probe will be conducted as regard to the cause of the incident though the sabotage angle has already been ruled out," a senior GRP officer said. The rail traffic was restored through the section by Monday morning and train operations restarted both in the Up Line and Down Line. “Normalcy in operations will return by Tuesday noon,” a railway official said. On Monday, many passenger trains were cancelled though long-haul trains were running late.