BHUBANESWAR: The three-train crash in Odisha's Bahanaga Bazar on June 2 that killed 294 people could have been averted had the station master reported "repeated unusual behaviour" of signals at the crossover point through which the south-bound Coromandel Express wrongly entered a loopline and crashed into a stationary goods train, according to a report of an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) that TOI has accessed."Notwithstanding the lapses in signalling work...

they could have traced the false feed extending to the electronic interlocking logic for circuit of crossover 17 A/B)," states the report, pointing to multiple failures of signal and telecom (S-T) department.Station master failed to notice signal abnormality: ReportCrossover 17 A/B is the point through which the Coromandel Express veered to the loopline instead of staying on course for Chennai.After station master S B Mohanty switched on the signal to change its status, it should have taken 14 seconds for that to happen, the report says.

But the signal changed instantly, which was abnormal.

According to the report, the station master should have figured out that the instant change in signal was a false feed of the electronic interlocking system as the ground position of the track can't change instantly, the report said."This abnormal occurrence should have been noticed by the station master as it occurred during individual operation and he was aware of the normal time required for operation of a point," it says, adding that he should have reported this abnormality and not allowed the Coromandel Express to move further.The report also notes that some signal circuit points at Bahanaga Bazar station had been shifted in 2018, but this wasn't documented.

Neither did the wiring diagrams reflect this change, it says.

The report blames this lapse for S-T staff misreading the circuit during some technical work executed on the day of the accident.

The anomalies resulted in a mismatch between the ground position of the crossover and the signalling system, it states.