The newly-launched Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express was cancelled on Monday after the windscreen of the main engine along with the glass window of some compartments of the semi-high speed train were damaged during a hailstorm on Sunday.
Read here: Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express damaged due to lightning, hailstorm in Odisha
The South Eastern Railway (SER), in a statement, said, "22895/22896 Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express will remain cancelled for repairs of damages caused by thunderstorm on May 21 in Cuttack-Bhadrak section of East Coast Railway."
The incident took place on Sunday at around 4:45 pm between Baitarani Road and Manjuri Road stations. The train was stranded till a relief diesel engine pulled it from where the train ran on its own.
The train was hit by lightning and a hailstorm that cracked the windscreen of the driver’s cabin. The overhead electric wire was also damaged by an uprooted tree resulting in the train being stranded at the Baitarani Road railway station for over two hours, officials said.
India's 16th and Odisha's first Vande Bharat Express train connecting the holy city of Puri to West Bengal's Howrah, was virtually flagged-off last week by PM Narendra Modi who hailed the semi-high speed train as a symbol of India's progress.
{{/usCountry}}India's 16th and Odisha's first Vande Bharat Express train connecting the holy city of Puri to West Bengal's Howrah, was virtually flagged-off last week by PM Narendra Modi who hailed the semi-high speed train as a symbol of India's progress.
{{/usCountry}}Read here: Vande Bharat Express trains now operational on 15 routes in India. See full list
The train operates six days a week (except Thursday). It departs from Puri at 01:50 pm and reaches Howrah at 08:30 pm, covering a distance of 502 km in six hours and forty minutes.
(With inputs from PTI)