New Delhi:Railway Board member Jaya Varma Sinha on Sunday said the injured loco pilot of the Coromandel Express involved in Friday's Odisha mishap told them that the train moved forward only after he received a 'Green' signal. She also asserted that the goods train that Coromandel Express crashed into did not derail as it was carrying iron ore which resulted in the maximum damage to the passenger train.
Addressing reporters here, Sinha, who is a member of Operation and Business Development of the Railway Board, said, "The goods train did not get derailed. Since the goods train was carrying iron ores, the maximum damage of the impact was on Coromandel Express. This is the reason for a huge number of deaths and injuries."
The senior Railway Board member also revealed that the driver of Coromandel Express, who sustained serious injuries, has told them that the train moved forward only after it received a 'Green' signal. Sinha said as per the driver neither did he jump any signal nor the train was overspeeding.
She said the derailed bogies of Coromandel Express came on the down line and hit the last two bogies of Yashwantpur Express which was crossing at the speed of 126 km per hour from down line.
She also blamed a "signalling issue" for the Odisha train mishap and stressed that only the Coromandel Express met with an accident. "According to the preliminary findings, there has been some issue with the signalling. We are still waiting for the detailed report from the Commissioner of Railway Safety. Only the Coromandel Express met with an accident. The train was at a speed of around 128 km/h," she added.