NEW DELHI, June 4 (Reuters) - Investigators are probing an electronic track management system that they suspect malfunctioned and caused India’s deadliest train crash in more than two decades, railways officials said on Sunday.
In their first detailed briefing on the crash, Indian Railways officials said that failure of the track management system was the main focus of investigations.
The computer-controlled track management system, called the “interlocking system”, directs a train to an empty track at the point where two tracks meet, Sandeep Mathur, principal executive director for signalling, told reporters.
It also coordinates and controls the signal to an oncoming train, indicating whether the train has to move straight or switch to a new track, he said.
The interlocking system should not have allowed the Coromandel Express to take the loop track, Sinha said.
Persons:
Sandeep Mathur, ”, Jaya Varma Sinha, Sinha, Adnan Abidi, Frances Kerry
Organizations:
Indian Railways, Railway Board, REUTERS, Express, YP, Thomson
Locations:
DELHI, Odisha, Balasore district, Coromandel, Chennai, Kolkata, India, Howrah