31 December,2016 08:52 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
Some are blaming the rails and allied infrastructure after the incident near Kalyan, while another view is about the quality of the rakes
Railway employees clear the track after the derailment
After the derailment near Kalyan on Thursday, an interdepartmental tussle is on in the Central Railway, to decide wherein lay the fault, in train or track. A day after mid-day reported about the insufficient quantity of ballasts used that could lead to a rail fracture, sources said that the CR authorities have taken serious note of it.
The Indian Railways is highly departmentalized, and sources said that the derailment of the 5-coaches has caused a rift between them. While one side is blaming the rails and allied infrastructure, another view is about the quality of rakes. "A good 95 percent of our fleet has new rakes and the oldest among them is 7 years old," said a Central Railway official. Sources said that of the 121 odd trains that ply on Central Railway, at least 104 are new and the fleet is quite young. They will be adding 3 more rakes very soon.
Most rakes new
The one which got derailed too, is among the newer lot. The CR operates 122 rakes everyday to cater to the 42 lakh plus daily commuters on both the Main and Harbour lines. Of these already 112 are Siemens rakes and more are being added to the fleet. The officials claim that there are only 3 BHEL made rakes which are the older version and are operating apart from the retrofitted ones.
mid-day's report on December 30
The officials added that the life of a rake is 25 years but if well maintained then it runs for 30 years and even more before it is condemned. A reason for a fault here as sources claimed, is that friction between the wheels of a rake and tracks can at times lead to wheels melting.
Tracks may be faulty
The engineering department maintaining the tracks and allied infrastructure too is being blamed for the incident. Senior CR officials claim that prima facie it seems that the tracks had a flaw because the fracture was too long.
The officials claim that the quality of steel used in tracks, now becomes questionable. Not just this, the ballasts that are used to provide cushioning for train movement are also less than prescribed. Mid-day yesterday reported this in the article 'Lack of proper cushioning may have led to derailment'. Instead of the mandatory 250-300mm of ballasts that need to be filled; only 100mm of ballasts is used. Sources said that officials are looking at all aspects and that an enquiry is underway.
140
Total number of Central railway rakes
122
Rakes running everyday
225
Number of rakes planned by 2020
