People gather after a passenger train collided with a freight train near Bilaspur railway station, Chhattisgarh, Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Two people were injured in the incident. | Photo credit: PTI
The Ministry of Railways has transferred South East Central Railway (SECR) Chief Electrical Engineer Rajiv Kumar Barnwal and Divisional Railway Manager, Bilaspur, Rajmal Khoiwal in the wake of the train accident at Bilaspur.
The moves came hours after Commissioner for Railway Safety (CRS) Brijesh Kumar Mishra’s report investigating the circumstances leading to the tragic accident was published in The Hindu on 11 December 2025.
The accident occurred on 4 November 2025 when a Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) train crossed a signal at risk and collided with a stationary goods train, killing 12 people and injuring 19 others near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.
In his report submitted to the Railway Board, Mr. Mishra said that the locomotive pilot of the suburban train, who also died in the collision, had failed the mandatory “fitness” test and was therefore unfit to run the service.
The CRS also recommended that only locomotive pilots who have passed the competency test should be deployed to operate MEMU services.
He said the competency test assessed intelligence, memory, reaction time and personality traits and warned that involving locomotive pilots who failed the test would jeopardize operational safety.
Security threat
“Deployment of locomotive pilots on MEMU services who have not met the above parameters will certainly make it difficult to make timely decisions and reaction time during train operation. Locomotive pilots should be deployed on MEMU services only after passing the competency test,” Mr. Mishra said in his report.
In the SECR, of the 142 locomotive pilots who were required to run MEMU services, only 102 passed the mandatory competency test, leaving a shortfall of 40. The CRS recommended that the Railway Board provide additional manpower to meet the deficit.
He raised concerns about Signal Passed At Danger (SPAD) incidents. As many as 33 cases of SPAD were reported in 2024–25, while six such incidents were recorded in the first two months of 2025–26. He recommended that locomotive co-pilots be instructed to apply the emergency brakes if the locomotive pilot exceeds a “red” signal or exceeds the speed limit after passing a “yellow” signal to help reduce SPAD occurrences.
Blood alcohol levels
Referring to the Indian Railway Medical Manual, Mr Mishra said only “zero” blood alcohol level was acceptable. However, during the investigation, the SECR Chief Medical Officer said that blood alcohol levels of up to 10 mg/dL were considered negative, citing metabolic factors that could cause such readings. In view of this, the CRS has recommended that the Indian Railways review the acceptable blood alcohol limits.
He further recommended that in case of death of any crew member involved in an accident, the railways should ensure that the blood alcohol content is given in the post-mortem report to ascertain the degree of intoxication. These instructions, he said, should be incorporated in the Accident Manual and Medical Manual of the Indian Railways to avoid mistakes by officials of the safety and medical departments.
Mr. Mishra concluded that the train accident at Bilaspur was due to a “fault in train operation”.
Published – 14 Dec 2025 20:03 IST
