Electronic interlocking root cause of Odisha train tragedy, people responsible identified: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The root cause of the tragic train mishap that killed at least 288 people and left 803 injured in Odisha’s Balasore district has been ascertained, said Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday.

“The root cause of this accident has been identified. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected the site yesterday. We will try to restore the track today. All bodies have been removed,” the Railways Minister said.

He further stated, “The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it... It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking.”

We've identified root cause of the train accident & the people responsible for it. Accident happened due to a change in electronic interlocking. Right now our focus is on restoration: Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw#OdishaTrainAccident #TrainAccident #Balasore #Bahanaga #Odisha pic.twitter.com/zAu9nSmQQ4

— OTV (@otvnews) June 4, 2023

“Our target is to finish the restoration work by Wednesday morning so that trains can start running on this track,” Vaishnaw added.  

The Railway Minister further stated that the mishap has nothing to do with Kavach. 

"The reason is not what Mamata Banerjee said yesterday. This incident happened due to a change in electronic interlocking," Vaishnaw added.