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Preliminary probe into Saturday’s derailment of Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar indicates “negligence” of local railway officials responsible for track maintenance.

According to railway officials here, track maintenance was in progress a few metres ahead of the spot where the train derailed, and there were directions to allow the trains to pass at a slow speed.

Utkal Express, however, was travelling at a speed of over 100 kmph when it derailed.

“The loco pilot may have applied the emergency brakes after noticing repair work on the tracks ahead, resulting in the derailment,’’ said a railway official.

There was no intimation from the maintenance team about the track repair work, he added.

The local residents had also claimed that the track was under repair.

An audio clip reportedly containing a conversation between a railway gateman and another railway employee regarding the maintenance work surfaced on social media networking sites and local television channels.

The gateman is heard telling the other employee that the track was damaged but the maintenance team did not repair them appropriately.

“Welding work was under way at a section of the railway track... but the workers did not fix the block of the track and left it loose. Gates near the crossing were closed. A piece (of the track) was not fixed and when the Utkal Express arrived, 14 of its coaches got derailed,” one of the railway employees is heard saying in the 15-minute audio clip.

“The line on which the work was under way was not fixed. Nor had they (workers) placed any flag or a signboard (as a stop signal). The accident occurred due to negligence. It seems all (the employees concerned) will be suspended,” he says.

They are also heard telling each other that the accident would have been averted had the workers placed a red flag.

Authenticity of clip

Mohd Jamshed, Member Traffic, Railway Board, said the ministry will check the authenticity of the clip and take appropriate action against the guilty.

Sources at the Muzaffarnagar railway station said the gangman on duty and other maintenance staff fled from their post soon after the accident on Saturday.

Railway sources in Lucknow said relief and rescue operations were over.

The number of deaths stood at 23 while the number of injured rose to 156.

The critically injured passengers were being treated at the Meerut Medical College Hospital.

DH News Service

How maintenance works takes place in railways

Whenever there is a maintenance work of fixed infrastructure like tracks, overhead equipment and signals, advance notices is given to all sections concerned including loco pilots of trains operating on that particular stretch.

Since these maintenance works are regular in nature, the officer in charge has to take written permission from his higher authorities and then the time and schedule of the works is fixed.

During the execution of the work the train operations is blocked or slowed down and the nearest train stations is alerted about the works, Mohd Jamshed, Member Traffic, Railway Board told reporters here.

He said sometimes repairs need to be done on an emergency basis, even then, if the next station is informed, the consequent trains are stopped.

"We then get our supervisors on the track or signals or overhead equipment under repair, which is inspected and repaired after which the trains are allowed to run with a speed restriction. Red flags are also shown to trains in case there is a problem on the tracks," he said.

It would be investigated if these protocols were followed at the accident spot in Khatauli in Uttar Padesh, he said.