Inquiry into Churchgate mishap to begin today

A day after a Bhayander-Churchgate local dashed into the buffer of platform number 3 at Churchgate station and climbed onto the concourse, train traffic was restored on the line around 10.30am on Monday.

The mishap-hit train was removed from platform number 3 around 7.30am, with the first train departing from the platform around 10.30am, said WR officials. "It was a tough operation because in double-discharge platforms like Churchgate, there is no space on either side to keep heavy equipment to remove the train. Moreover, the bogie of the first coach was heavily damaged and had to be brought back to its slots in order to give stability to the train while it was being pulled back by a locomotive," said Shailendra Kumar, divisional railway manager, WR.

An inquiry into the accident will begin on Tuesday at Mumbai Central, with four senior WR officials on the panel — chief safety officer, chief motive power engineer (diesel), chief signal engineer and chief electrical engineer (rolling stock). Officials expect motorman Tiwary's cell phone records to be available from his service provider Airtel by tomorrow.

"His cell phone was taken away by WR authorities about an hour after the incident. His phone showed that he had made five to seven calls after 11.45am, that is about 25 minutes after the accident. His call records show a blank from 6am on Sunday, when he reported to duty. So, it is the call records which will show us if he deleted any calls during the one hour after the accident when he had the phone to himself," said a senior WR official.

Another perennial bugbear, of railway personnel travelling inside the motorman's cabin and in the process disturbing his concentration, has been ruled out because when Tiwary was pulled out of the cabin immediately after the incident, he was alone inside.