Utkal Express Derailment: Rail traffic restored on affected section, most stringent action taken, says Manoj Sinha
Rail traffic was restored on the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur section on Monday, two days after the Utkal train derailment, in the wake of which the Railways promised to upgrade safety features on the tracks.
“The 54542 Ambala Meerut city passenger train passed Khatauli (site of last Saturday’s accident in UP) at 1:21 AM today,” the Railways said in a press release.At least 22 people were killed and 156 injured when 13 coaches of Utkal Express derailed on Saturday evening while it was on its way from Puri in Odisha to Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
The Railways yesterday sent on leave three top officials, including a secretary-level Railway Board member, suspended four officers and transfered a track engineer, describing it as an “unprecedented” action. Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said a probe is underway to fix responsibility for the accident and unprecedented action would be taken against the guilty. Stressing that action had already been initiated against officials, Sinha said, “Once the report comes…the action will be such that has not been seen before.” “On preliminary basis… things that have come to light… based on it I feel that the most stringent action has been taken in the history of the railways,” Sinha told …read more
