20160421 India AiShort-circuit likely behind Sabarmati engine fire
India Apr 20 2016 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Short-circuit likely behind Sabarmati engine fire
Updated: 2016-04-21-00:01
The diesel engine of Sabarmati Express, which had caught fire owing to alleged technical snags on Tuesday afternoon, was scheduled to be maintained at its diesel shed in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh by April end. No diesel shed for maintenance of loco is available in Varanasi.
Senior divisional commercial manager, NR Lucknow, Ajit Kumar Sinha, said: “Prima facie, it was short-circuiting in the electrical equipment of the engine which caused fire. But inquiry is being conducted to find out the exact reason.”
Regarding responsibility of the maintenance of diesel locomotives, officials said every single engine has its own diesel shed located at different places.
“There is no diesel shed in Varanasi for the maintenance of locomotives. The engines of trains are serviced and maintained at at fixed loco sheds located in different parts of the country. The diesel shed for maintenance of Sabarmati Express is in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh,” station manager of Cantonment railway station (Northern Railways), A K Pandey said.
As per sources, the diesel engine of Darbhanga-Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express had to undergo maintenance at its shed in Ratlam by the end of this month.
“The maintenance was due but it does not mean that fire broke out in engine due to overheating of engine or short circuit. All we know is that the engine caught fire due to technical snags or fault which may occur at any point of time,” said Pandey.
The engine of Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express caught fire near Shivpur railway station on Tuesday afternoon. However, no passenger was injured in the accident. Similar incident occurred when the engine of Chauri Chaura Express, under NCR, caught fire on Shujatpur-Sirathu section of the busy New Delhi-Howrah route on Tuesday.
About 25-30% of the 200 goods, mail and express trains that pass through Cantt railway station still run on diesel despite electrification of Mughalsarai-Varanasi-Jaunpur-Sultanpur-Lucknow route in January 2013. Out of it, 70 trains move on Varanasi-Jaunpur-Sultanpur-Lucknow route. The arrival and departure of trains from Cantonment railway station takes place on the routes like Chhapra, Gorakhpur, Mughalsarai, Allahabad via Manduadih and Lucknow.
The process of electrification has been done only on Mughalsarai-Varanasi-Jaunpur-Sultanpur-Lucknow route.
The electrification of Varanasi-Lohta-Janghai-Unchahar (including Phaphamau-Prayag-Allahabad), on the other hand, was done in December 2015.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/Short-circuit-likely-behind-Sabarmati-engine-fire/articleshow/51916986.cms