Railway 🌠Bo🌼ard has announced that a team of five senior officials has been tasked with investigating the tragic train incident in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, which resulted in the deaths of 13 people.
The victims, all passengers aboa🅘rd the Mumbai-bound Pushpak Express, were run over by the oncoming Karnataka Express after pulling the train’s alarm chain and alighting onto the adj⛦acent tracks.
The Railway Board confirmed o Thursday that the team would include the Principal Chief Safety Officer (PCSO), Principal Chief Security Commissioner (PCSC), Principal Chief Electrical Engineer (PCEE), Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer (PCME), and Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM) from the Central Railway Zone. The team is being led by the PC𓃲SO, who has been appointed as the convener of the inquiry.
Dilip Kumar, Executive Directo♌r for Information and Publicity at the Railway Board, confirmed that the team had already begun its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. “They have been asked to determine the cause of the incident and to submitꦯ their report as soon as possible,” Kumar stated.
The incident occurred on the evening of Wednesday, January 22, when 13 passengers of the Pushpak Express were killed by the Karnataka Express, which was heading from Bengaluru to𒅌 Delhi. According to reports, passengers ඣof the Pushpak Express had exited the train after a chain-pulling incident triggered the alarm system.
Initial spe꧑culation suggests that a rumour of a fire on thဣe Pushpak Express may have caused panic among passengers, prompting them to exit the train. However, the Railway Ministry has since clarified that there was no fire, smoke, or any sparks from the train's coach.
Swapn🌌il Dhanraj Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer for Central Railway, stated that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) had initiated a preliminary investigation immediately after the incident. Nila also no෴ted that the cause behind the panic, specifically the spread of the rumour, was still under investigation.
The inquiry has now been handed over to the senior officials’ team, which will further explore the incident's causes, including who might have started the rumour and what led passengers to take such a dangerous course of ac🎀tion. When asked if the Commissio🐻ner of Railway Safety (CRS) would be involved in the investigation, Nila clarified that no order had yet been issued for a CRS enquiry.
