The Coromandel Express has derailed three times in 20 years, the third being the deadliest. But still no lessons learned

Counting the horrific Odisha train accident on Friday night, the Coromandel Express has derailed three times so far: 2002, 2009 and 2023. But Indian Railways doesn’t seem to have learned any lessons from the first two mishaps, leaving it the last accident is the deadliest. until now. All three accidents occurred on a Friday, all three trains were headed for Chennai and two of them occurred in Odisha.

in 2002, the train operating between West Bengal and Tamil Nadu derailed on March 15 near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. At least eight carriages of the Chennai-bound train were damaged. However, no deaths were reported, but around 100 people were injured. At the time, the accident was blamed on the poor condition of the main railway at Nellore.

In 2009, at least 16 passengers died and around 200 were injured in the mishap that took place on the night of February 13. A total of 13 bogies derailed while changing tracks in Odisha’s Jajpur district. The train was traveling at a high speed and the locomotive turned into a turtle shortly after passing Jajpur Road railway station.

in the last odisha accident, the train derailed about 100 km from the site of the 2009 mishap, this time involving two more trains and killing more than 260 people. The accident took place near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station when around 11 coaches and the locomotive of the Coromandel Express derailed According to the latest railway bulletin, issued around 1:00 pm on Saturday, at least 261 deaths have been reported.

The injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Gopalpur, Khantapara, Balasore, Bhadrak and Soro. Both Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Railway Board Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti inspected the site.

The Ministry of Railways ordered an inquiry to be led by AM Chowdhary, Commissioner of Railway Safety, South East Circle.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik declared a day of state mourning on Saturday in the wake of the deadly triple train accident.

The Railways announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakhs for the relatives of the deceased, Rs 2 lakhs for the seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his distress over the accident and announced an additional grace of Rs 2 lakh for the relatives of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).