Ara derailment: Railway Board warning ignored, crew deployed without route learning

The loco pilot of the Delhi-bound Sikkim Mahananda Express, which derailed at Bihar's Ara Junction on 7 September, had not completed the required route learning, according to railway records. The Prayagraj Division suspended the loco pilot, assistant loco pilot, deputy crew controller and chief loco inspector for allegedly deploying the crew with incomplete route learning.

Both Hindustan Times and The Economic Times report that the Railway Board had issued a warning on 24 August, two weeks before the derailment, after a similar red-signal overshoot in the Asansol Division, stating that strict action needed to be taken against deploying crew without route learning. Records show the loco pilot received only one route-learning trip on 1 July instead of the required two trips. The Prayagraj Division allegedly manually bypassed the Crew Management System to deploy him. Senior Prayagraj officials argued the derailment was unrelated to route learning, while safety officials called the violation serious and demanded action against senior officials who risked passengers' lives.