Was rail track defective?

Fault in manufacture by SAIL detected.

JEEWANPURA (Fatehgarh Sahib), Dec 4 — Two small pieces of the railway line which were once part of a single line of the track on which the derailment took place here on December 2 hold the key to the cause of the train collision as they carry tell-tale signs of defective manufacture.

The two pieces of the track have been made case property by the Railway authorities who have photographed them extensively. The importance of the pieces has increased as most of the pieces of the uprooted line have not been recovered till now.

The pieces are also being given importance by Railway officials as they carry signs of a defect in manufacture, according to department sources interviewed at the spot of accident. A small blackened circle which sources said was due to ‘hydrogen intrusion’ passes through and through both the pieces. Moreover, the same black hole can be seen, though not so clearly, in other pieces of the ill-fated rail line which have been recovered from the debris till now. A total of six pieces of the broken track have been recovered.

Sources said the two small pieces of the rail track had been recovered from exactly the same spot where the derailment of the goods train on the morning of December 2 was calculated according to experts.

Meanwhile, the search for the rest of the rail track did not bear fruit till this afternoon. Engineers said it was a difficult task as one part of the uprooted rail had been recovered buried in three feet of debris.

The rail derailment is being calculated to have occurred near a small bridge with number 340 between the Sadhugarh and Serai Banjara railway stations. The point very close to which the track was uprooted with the force of the collision has the lettering ‘’88052 SAIL nine, 92”. This, sources disclosed, indicated the number of the track as well as its date of manufacturing in September 1992 by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

Engineers on the spot said even a casual examination of the track revealed that there was some manufacturing defect in it due to which some chemical reaction had occurred which had weakened it and the vibrations of the goods train had led to development of a crack.

They said the pieces of railway track would be examined by the Railway Design and Standards Organisation which would also conduct chemical tests on it. The engineers were busy today taking readings of the tracks as well as the wagons so that the stress on them could be calculated. They said this ground work was being done in anticipation of the visit of the Chief Commissioner, Railway Safety, at the site of the accident tomorrow.

However, officially there is no word on the cause of the accident. Northern Railway Assistant Divisional Manager A.K. Kapoor when contacted at Ambala said it was too early to ascertain the cause and that facts would only come to light following the completion of the inquiry by the Chief Commissioner, Safety.