The out-of-order block instruments (token machine) at Mirthal station that became the major cause of the accident. — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari

Mukerian, December 15
It was the communication of ‘double four’ message between the station masters of Mirthal and Bhangala railway stations that led to the tragic rail accident yesterday, resulting in the death of 37 persons, including passengers and railway staff.

The sources at the Mirthal railway station said that ‘double four’ were the last words exchanged by the station masters on their Very High Frequency (VHF) wireless sets before the Jammu Tawi Ahmedabad Express and DMU trains were allowed to proceed on the same track.

Both station masters took the ‘double four’ message as meaning to let the trains pass from their stations. In the general token system it was used to allow the trains to proceed to two adjoining railway stations. The block instruments are installed at each railway station that are connected with each other through wires.

Whenever a train arrives at the station its driver hands over the token taken from the previous station to the station master. The station master contacts his counterpart at the next station and enters the token in the machine. Till the token was introduced and another token was not issued the train could not move from the station. This foolproof system of preventing accidents had been working in the Indian Railways since the times of East India Company.

However, on the unfortunate day yesterday the token system of both Mirthal and Bhangala stations was out of order. At the Bhangala station even the link with Ferozpore headquarters was out of order.

The Ferozpore railway authorities allowed the Mirthal station master to pass the Ahmedabad Jammu Tawi Express from his station. However, the Bhangala station master could not contact the Ferozpore authorities. He exchanged the code words ‘double four’ with his counterpart at Mirthal on the VHF wireless set and let the DMU train move from his station.

The sources told this correspondent that the work for doubling the Pathankot-Jalandhar track had been going on for the past one year. The contractors used JCB machines for earthwork and digging. In this process they generally broke under wires linking the block token instruments. Many times the station authorities of Bhangala had complained to the Railway Police against the breaking of the communication wires by the contractors. Though the police took action against the workers of the contractors sometimes.

This time also the communication link between the Bhangala and Mirthal stations was allegedly broken by the JCB machines of the contractors on December 13. The report regarding it was filed with the railway authorities at Pathankot. However, there was just one line joiner at Pathankot for the communication lines between stations leading from Pathankot to Bhangala and who could not take care of the problem in time.

Meanwhile, both station masters, Mr Ram Lal of Mirthal station and Mr B.K. Malvia of Bhangala station, have gone underground along with their families. The police today first raided the residence of Mr Ram Lal in Motli village, about 7 km from Damtal in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh near Pathankot. However, the police party found his house locked with all his family members absconding.

The house of Mr Malvia was also found locked in Ucchi Bassi. His neighbours disclosed that the entire Malvia family fled as soon as the news of the accident was received.

Mr Malvia was actually the Stationmaster of Ucchi Bassi railway station on the Dasuya-Mukerian road. However, he was shifted to Bhangala just a day before the accident.

The station master of Bhangala had gone on leave.

The mangled remains of the accidental trains were moved off the tracks last night. The sources said that the line was opened for traffic around 2 am today. Trains ran normally on the line today with the passengers peeping through windows at the mangled remains of the trains.

Meanwhile, with the death of one more injured person in the train accident, the toll rose to 38 today. According to Mr S.S. Bhatti, SP (D), Hoshiarpur, Naresh Kumar, son of Ashok Kumar of Basti Gujan (Jalandhar), succumbed to his injuries at the DMC, Ludhiana, this morning.

Out of 38 dead, the identification of 37 has been done. The body of a woman was yet to be identified.

LUDHIANA: A youth injured in the Mukerian train accident is still lying unconscious at the DMC Hospital with doctors crossing fingers about his condition.

Rohit, an electronic engineer and resident of Gharauta village in Gurdaspur, was returning home after taking an entrance test for recruitment in Delhi Metro in the Jammu Tawi Express when the accident took place.

His brother, Dev Anand told The Tribune that Rohit had stayed with friends after the test on Sunday.