A chain of instances of negligence by the railways — from delays that cause overcrowding to unscientific track management that compromises safety — has been blamed for the accident that claimed two young lives on Wednesday.

A senior railway official said the transformer pole into which Rajkumar Mahato and Kallol Sarkar crashed while they were hanging out of the jam-packed down Naihati-Sealdah local could have been removed two decades ago. “Track realignments were carried out several times during this period but the pole remained there despite being of no use,” he said.

Six persons hanging from the door of the first compartment of the down Naihati-Sealdah local were flung out during the accident near Belgharia station. The condition of one of the three injured undergoing treatment at NRS Medical College and Hospital turned critical on Thursday.

According to the report of the train guard who noted down the arrival and departure timings at each station, the Naihati-Sealdah local was running 12 minutes late when it left Belgharia. This added to the rush. “The train entered the station at 9.54am and left at 9.55am, 10 minutes behind schedule,” a senior Eastern Railway official said. “Between 8 and 11 am, every delay of 10 minutes or more leads to overcrowding.”

On an average, trains are 15 to 30 minutes late on the Sealdah route despite a state-of-the-art route relay interlocking system being installed to manage railway signals better and prevent delays. The other factors that cause delays are poor maintenance of tracks and rakes, lack of co-ordination between different departments and the timetable.

“On most occasions, maintenance work that can be done at night are taken up at daytime, which further slows down trains,” said the driver of a local train.

Safety norms are ignored, too. Going by the book, the minimum distance between any overhead equipment mast and the centre of the tracks should be between 2.3 and 2.5 metres. “Even if the base of the pole that killed the two youths on Wednesday was outside the safety area, it may have leant towards the track,” an official said.

The railway authorities claimed periodic checks were the norm. “The inquiry committee will submit its report in 10 days and lapses, if any, will come to light,” a official said. The panel has been asked to find out how many poles line the tracks in Sealdah division, sources said.