Lalu Prasad Yadav, a former railway minister in the UPA government said. "I know that a pilot engine is run 30 minutes ahead of Rajdhani Express trains. This is done to check whether the line is clear and tracks are safe. It seems this was not done in this case and the accident happened," he said.

"This is a clear cut case of negligence by railway officials. I want to know why the pilot engine was not run on the tracks before the Rajdhani Express was scheduled to cross the area," he added.

The incident happened at around 2.15 AM near Goldenganj in Saran district, around 100 km northwest from Patna.