Tamil Nadu train crash fallout: Railway Board initiates 15-day drive to inspect interlocking points

According to the board's letter, the officials should check if the interlocking points require frequent attention, their behaviour under the wheels of a train and also ensure the adequate availability of their components among other things.

New Delhi: Days after a collision between a passenger and a freight train in Tamil Nadu, the Railway Board has initiated a 15-day-long safety drive from October 23 to inspect interlocking points and crossings across all rail networks in the country.

In the communication to all zones, the Board asked field officials to undertake the drive with a special emphasis on critical analysis of cases of derailment at these intersections in the last three years among other aspects.

The officials should check if the interlocking points require frequent attention, their behaviour under the wheels of a train and also ensure the adequate availability of their components among other things, the letter said.

Asking all the zones and divisions to send a daily report to the Safety Control department of the board, the letter directed the principal chief safety officers "to critically analyse complete shortcomings to identify systematic deficiency and action taken/planned to be taken", and send a report to the board by November 13.

The drive was initiated almost a fortnight after the Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express rammed into a stationary goods train at the Kavaraipettai railway station near Chennai. The incident is being investigated to find out whether it was an act of sabotage of the interlocking system or a possible mechanical defect in it.