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The horrific train-van collision in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district, which claimed the lives of three children, has escalated into a heated exchange between the Southern Railway and the state government over who is responsible for the safety lapse. The Southern Railway has acknowledged "criminal negligence" on the part of its gatekeeper, who allegedly violated protocol by allowing the school van to cross the tracks. However, it also pointed fingers at the Cuddalore district administration, claiming it failed to clear a railway-funded underpass proposal that had been pending for over a year.
“The underpass at this level crossing was sanctioned with full railway funding. But permission has not been granted by the District Collector despite repeated requests,” Southern Railway said in a press release.
Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam responded sharply to the allegations, questioning the credibility of the railway's statements. “We need to investigate whether such a proposal was formally made. Let a proper inquiry be held,” he told the media.
Speaking to TNM, District Collector Sibi Adithya Senthil Kumar said the district authorities are looking into the claims made by Southern Railway and details of the communication. “Right now our priority is to provide relief to the family members of those who lost their loved ones and we will be officially responding after verifying all the details,” he said.
The incident occurred on July 8 at Gate No 170 — a manned, non-interlocked level crossing in Semmankuppam — where the Villupuram - Mayiladuthurai passenger train (No 56813) rammed into a school van belonging to Krishnasamy Vidyanikethan CBSE School.
Southern Railway’s preliminary inquiry claims that though the gate was closed, the van driver insisted on crossing the railroad, and that he was wrongly permitted by the gatekeeper in violation of standard procedures.
The railway’s official release stated: “Preliminary inquiry reveals that the gate was in closed condition when the van arrived. However, the van driver insisted on allowing the van to cross the gate to avoid the delay in reaching the school, which was wrongly permitted by the gatekeeper, violating the rules and protocol.”
Eyewitness accounts and statements from survivors, however, paint a different picture. The van driver, Sankar, told reporters that the gate was open and no warning signals were active. “We usually take this route. Today, the gate was already open when we arrived. I didn’t tell the gatekeeper anything. There was no horn and no staff in sight,” he said.
Vishwesh, a 16-year-old student who survived the accident and is currently under medical treatment, said the same. “The gate was open and there were no lights or sounds. We thought the train had passed,” he said from his hospital bed.
Speaking to TNM, S Vijay Kumar, associate editor of The Hindu who has been covering railways for years, said the railways typically follow strict procedures for managing level crossings and was surprised that the railway shifted blame on the school van driver.
“There are three types of level crossings,” he explained. “Interlocked gates linked to signals, non-interlocked gates not connected to signals, and unmanned gates. However, there are no unmanned crossings in Southern Railways now.”
The associate editor added, “Before a train is cleared, the station master gives a code to the gatekeeper, who must close the gate and return another code called the Private Number (PN). Only then is the train allowed to proceed. Once issued, the gate must stay closed. Reopening it isn’t an option.”
“If the gatekeeper can’t be reached, the station master issues a caution order. The loco pilot slows down, blows the horn continuously, stops before the gate, and the assistant pilot checks both sides before crossing. Even if the PN is sent, the loco pilot must still look for a hand signal from the gatekeeper. If it's missing, they are required to inform the station master,” he further stated.
“In this case, we can’t accept the claim that the gatekeeper opened the gate because a private school van driver insisted. It’s unlikely a gatekeeper would violate protocol based on such a request. The gates were open and the train came at full speed — this simply doesn’t happen under standard railway protocol,” Vijay Kumar said.
Meanwhile, sources in the Cuddalore police told TNM that the accident was caused by human error and technical failure. “Eyewitnesses confirmed that the gate was never closed. The system does not allow reopening of the gate once locked before a train passes. This suggests gross negligence by the railway staff,” they said.
Gatekeeper Pankaj Sharma was reportedly asleep when the van approached. He was allegedly assaulted by villagers at the spot and later handed over to police. He has since been suspended and arrested.
Three students lost their lives in the accident: Nimilesh (10), Charumathy (16), and her brother Chezhiyan (15). Two others, Vishwesh and van driver Sankar, are critically injured. A local resident, Annadurai (55), who rushed to help, was electrocuted by a live wire at the scene and is also under treatment.
Residents who arrived first carried out rescue operations before emergency teams arrived. The collision destroyed the van and halted train services along the route. Partial cancellations have been announced by the Division Railway Manager, Trichy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia to the families of the deceased, and Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 to those with serious and minor injuries respectively. The Railway department has also declared a compensation package of Rs 5 lakh for the deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh for the injured, and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries.