Pune: After the derailment of the Mumbai-Solapur Vande Bharat Express at the Pune railway station yard on April 27, the Railway Board has decided to replace 16 old “double diamond crossings” in the Pune railway division with newly-designed modern crossings as part of a nationwide railway safety upgrade.
Railway officials said the work will begin soon, as four new crossings have already arrived in Pune. The replacement will mainly take place in both railway yards at Pune Junction station. Similar changes are also expected to be introduced in other railway divisions across the country.
The decision was taken after the Vande Bharat Express experienced a wheel-slip derailment while entering the Pune station yard, becoming the first accident involving a Vande Bharat train in the Pune railway division. Following the incident, railway authorities carried out a review of ageing railway infrastructure, particularly the old double-diamond crossing system still used at several busy railway stations.
A double diamond crossing is a special railway track structure where two railway lines cross each other diagonally. These crossings are mostly used in crowded railway yards to help trains move between different platforms and tracks in limited space. Railway officials said the system has been useful for handling heavy train traffic and managing operations smoothly in congested areas like Pune station.
However, railway experts said these crossings require very careful maintenance because several points and switches work together at the same time. Any small technical issue, alignment problem or excess speed can increase the chances of wheel slips or derailments, especially in busy station yards with constant train movement.
The old crossings had served an important purpose in managing train operations, but railway infrastructure now needs modernisation due to increasing traffic and the introduction of high-speed and semi-high-speed trains. The new crossings are technologically more advanced and are expected to improve operational safety and provide safer train journeys for passengers.
