Kanchanjungha Express accident: Initial probe blames lapses by goods train crew, Jalpaiguri division’s operating department
The report also suggests that the Kanchanjungha Express was waiting at one of the defective signals when the goods train hit it from behind.
#WestBengal #darjeeling #KanchenjungaExpressAccident #KanchenjungaExpress #TrainSafety #TrainAccidents #india
Kanchanjunga Express Tragedy: Railways Focus on Deceased Driver, Workers Point to Systemic Failures
Railway workers have questioned the authorities' action against the deceased driver, who they claim was overworked. Little attention was paid to the signalling failure, they said.
#KanchenjungaExpressAccident #WestBengal #darjeeling #TrainAccidents #TrainSafety #india
https://thewire.in/government/kanchanjunga-express-railways-driver-workers
#cartoon by #Manjul (from June 2023)
#TrainAccidents #TrainSafety #RailwayMinistry #AshwiniVaishnaw #NarendraModi #ModiPR #india
Kanchanjungha Express accident: Documents show goods train driver not at fault, allowed to pass red signals
According to the source, the automatic signalling system between RNI and CAT was defective since 5.50 am Monday.
#KanchenjungaExpressAccident #TrainSafety #TrainAccidents #darjeeling #WestBengal #india
Over 329 lives lost due to train accidents, security issues since August 2021
Kanchanjungha Express accident is the latest addition to rail accidents in India since Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge as Minister in 2021. Balasore accident in June 2023 killed at least 296.
#KanchenjungaExpressAccident #TrainAccidents #TrainSafety #AshwiniVaishnaw #RailwayMinistry #BJP #IndianRailways #india
Kanchanjungha Express accident is the latest addition to rail accidents in India since Ashwini Vaishnav took charge as Minister in 2021. Balasore accident in June 2023 killed at least 296.
Two of India’s Railway Ministers have resigned on moral grounds after massive accidents
Demands of resignation of India's Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have risen, after one of India’s most disastrous rail tragedies in many years took place in Odisha on June 2, killing at least 270 people. (Article from June 2023)
#IndianRailwayMinisters #TrainAccidents #TrainSafety #congress #JDU #AITC #TMC #BJP #odisha #balasore #india
#KanchenjungaExpressAccident #KanchenjungaExpress #TrainSafety #IndianRailways #RailwayMinistry #WestBengal #darjeeling #TrainAccidents #india
Solar storms could cause train accidents, scientists warn
Story by Andrew Griffin, December 11, 2023
“#SpaceWeather – changes in the atmosphere that include blasts of energy from the Sun – can disrupt everything from communications to #PowerGrids. Scientists have repeatedly warned that the Earth faces potentially catastrophic danger from #SolarStorms, which could be powerful enough to bring down much of the #infrastructure on which we depend.
“Now researchers warn that danger could be enough to cause malfunctioning #rail signals, which in turn could lead to #TrainAccidents.
“Researchers modelled how geomagnetically induced currents from solar storms could cause danger, by looking at two routes: the Preston to Lancaster section of the #WestCoastMainLine, and the #GlasgowToEdinburghLine. Those are just two lines that rely heavily on that rail signal, and there are more than 50,000 signalling track circuits in the UK, which control the railway signal with an electric circuit.
“In the new study, they found that space weather would be able to change those circuits. Models suggest that could happen every few decades, the researchers found.
“’Crucially, our research suggests that space weather is able to flip a signal in either direction, turning a red signal green or a green signal red. This is obviously very significant from a safety perspective,' said Cameron Patterson from Lancaster University.
“’By building a computer model of the signalling track circuits using realistic specifications for the various components of the system, we found that space weather events capable of triggering faults in these track circuits are expected in the UK every few decades.'
“Patterson had previously worked on research that suggested solar storms could lead to 'right side' failures, where signals turn from green to red. Those are less dangerous, since trains will stay at a stop.
“But the new research suggests that they can also happen for 'wrong side' failures, that change signals to green. What’s more, they actually require less strength to be flipped, suggesting they could happen with less powerful solar storms.
“‘Our research shows that space weather poses a serious, if relatively rare, risk to the rail signalling system, which could cause delays or even have more critical, safety implications,' said Cameron. 'This natural hazard needs to be taken seriously. By their nature, high-impact, low-frequency events are hard to plan for, but ignoring them is rarely the best way forward.'
“In 1859, the world was hit by what is known as the ‘#CarringtonEvent’, which was powerful enough to knock telegraph signals offline as well as other disruptions. If that happened today, it would cause widespread disruption – including causing widespread problems on both train lines that were examined in the study.
“But there have been more recent, if less powerful, examples of space weather that is powerful enough to hit power grids. In 2003, the Swedish city of Malmo suffered problems from space weather, for instance.
“The work is reported in a new study, 'Wrong Side' Failures Caused by Geomagnetically Induced Currents in Electrified Railway Signalling Systems in the UK’, published in the journal Space Weather.”
Mathrubhumi English
IndiaNewsWatch
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