Odisha train accident: Archana Joshi removed as SER GM

The commissioner of railway safety submitted its report to the railway board on the causes of triple-train accident at Balasore on June 2

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SER GM removed

New Delhi: A day after the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) submitted its probe report on the triple-train accident at Odisha’s Balasore, the railway board has given marching orders to Archana Joshi, general manager of the south eastern railway zone.

Reports said that Joshi, who the other day led the officials’ team at the inaugural run of Ranchi-Patna Vande Bharat express on June 27 at Ranchi railway station, has been shifted to Karnataka as Rail Wheel Factory, Yalahanka.

Also Read: Odisha Train Accident: Signalling system snag led to disaster

The appointments committee of the Cabinet, on the recommendation of the Railway Board, appointed Anil Kumar Misra — an Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers officer — as the South Eastern Railway general manager, a post held by Archana Joshi.

A senior officer of the railway board said that the CRS, probing the triple-train accident in Odisha’s Balasore on June 2, has submitted its report to the Railway Board, sources said on Thursday. Around 300 passengers had reportedly died.

Also Read: Day after Balasore train accident: 300 die, 900 still under treatment

The contents of the report could not be immediately ascertained, as railway board officials refused to comment on the report’s findings. In the train accident, over 1,000 people were injured. The Coromandel Express entered the passing loop instead of the main line near Bahanaga Bazar railway station at full speed and collided with a stationary goods train.

Apart from a CRS probe, the CBI is also investigating the tragic incident.

Since the accident, the Railways has transferred several top officials of the SER under whose jurisdiction the tragedy occurred. Initial probe had suggested a signalling interference, either by negligence or by intent as the probable cause of the accident.