No functional part damaged in Vande Bharat Express Buffaloes accident

MUMBAI, (ANI): No functional part of the newly-launched Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express train was damaged after it met with an accident when a herd of buffaloes came on the railway line, said officials on Friday.

The train running between Mumbai Central to Gurajat’s Gandhinagar met with an accident at around 11.15 am between Vatva station to Maninagar.

“The accident damaged the front part of the engine. However, no functional part was damaged. The train moved just after removing carcasses (within 8 minutes) and reached on time at Gandhinagar. The incident occurred at 11:18 am between Gairatpur-Vatva station,” said Western Railway Sr PRO, JK Jayant.

On this hit with cattle, the Nose Cone Cover of the front coach i.e Driver coach was damaged with its mounting brackets.

The nose cover is designed to absorb the impact without transmitting the same to the functional parts of the train. Therefore, it is sacrificial by design and hence replaceable. “Railway keeps sufficient nose-cones as spare. It was replaced with a new one in the Mumbai Central depot in no time during the maintenance and the train was put back in service without any extra downtime. The train departed from Mumbai today without any inconvenience to the passengers. Western Railway is taking all actions to prevent such type of incidents in future,” read an official statement.

The repairing of the wagon was done in Mumbai. “Cone of Vande Bharat Express running has been repaired at the coaching care centre in Mumba Central,” the officials added.

Earlier on September 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express train at Gandhinagar.

This was the third Vande Bharat train in the country, the other two being run between New Delhi – Varanasi and New Delhi – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.

The new Vande Bharat Express train will run between Gandhinagar and Mumbai, connecting the state capitals of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The train will run 6 days a week, except Sunday. The Vande Bharat train 20901, from Mumbai Central, will depart at 6.10 am to reach Gandhinagar at 12.30 pm, officials said adding that the return train 20902 to Mumbai will depart Gandhinagar Capital station at 2.05 pm to reach Mumbai Central at 8.35 pm.

Officials also said that the train with 16 coaches has a seating capacity of 1,128 passengers and will halt at three stations: Surat, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad before reaching Gandhinagar Capital station.

The new Vande Bharat trains would have improved features including reclining seats, automatic fire sensors, CCTV cameras, on-demand content with Wi-fi facility, three-hour battery backup and GPS systems to make travelling safer and more comfortable.

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai has set a target of manufacturing 75 Vande Bharat trains by August 2023. (ANI)