7-6-2023 (NEW DELHI) The Coromandal Express, one of the trains involved in India’s most devastating railway disaster in decades, is set to resume service on Wednesday (Jun 7) as officials revise the death toll to 288.
According to railway spokesperson Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, the Coromandal Express will depart from Shalimar station near Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon, embarking on a 25-hour journey south to Chennai.
The collision occurred near Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha, involving three trains. Late on Tuesday, Odisha’s chief secretary Pradeep Jena confirmed that the official death toll has been revised from 275 to 288. Over 1,175 individuals were injured, with many in critical condition and still receiving treatment in hospitals.
Jena explained that the updated toll resulted from counting deaths from both hospitals and mortuaries, noting that 83 bodies remain unidentified. The sheer number of casualties overwhelmed medical centers, raising concerns that the death toll may further increase.
The Coromandal Express was diverted onto a loop line, where it collided with a stationary goods train. The impact caused the carriages of the Coromandal Express to overturn onto another track, subsequently striking the rear carriages of the Howrah Superfast Express from Bengaluru, which was passing in the opposite direction.
While trains began operating past the crash site on Sunday, the resumption of the Coromandal Express on Wednesday will mark the first service along the route since the incident.
India’s railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, attributed the crash to a “change that occurred during electronic interlocking,” referring to a technical term for a complex signal system designed to prevent train collisions.
On Tuesday, a six-member team from India’s Central Bureau of Investigation visited the crash site to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that “no one responsible” will escape accountability for the tragedy.
India possesses one of the world’s largest rail networks and has witnessed several disasters over the years. The worst occurred in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar, plunging into the river below and claiming the lives of approximately 800 people.
The Balasore crash now ranks as India’s third deadliest railway accident and the most catastrophic since 1995, when over 300 individuals died in a collision near Agra in Firozabad.
