Vande Bharat train on Delhi-Varanasi route suffers snag; 3rd incident in 3 days

The passengers of Varanasi-bound semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express train were deboarded and shifted to another rake at Khurja station in Uttar Pradesh after travelling 90km from Delhi

A New Delhi-Varanasi semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express train developed a technical glitch on Saturday resulting in a delay for the passengers, said a railway official.

The train rake with number 22436 suffered a failure due to a bearing defect in the traction motor of C8 coach. (PTI)

The train rake with number 22436 left New Delhi station at its scheduled time of 6am but suffered a failure due to a bearing defect in the traction motor of C8 coach between Dankaur and Wair stations of the north central railway (NCR), the official said. The passengers were deboarded and shifted to another rake at Khurja station in Uttar Pradesh, 90km from Delhi, and they continued their journey at around 1pm.

“The bearing jam was rectified with the assistance of the NCR team. However, due to the development of a flat tyre of 80mm, the train moved at a restricted speed of 20 kilo metre per hour (kmph) up to Khurja station where the replacement rake which departed from the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS) at 10.45am was present,” the official said.

“A detailed investigation of the failure will be done after taking the rake back to the maintenance depot. According to inputs, passengers have been shifted successfully and the replacement rake departed from Khurja station at 12.57pm,” the official added.

Railways officials said that a joint team of six officers of northern railways (NR) and north central railways (NCR) headed by the additional divisional railway manager (ADRM) OP Delhi reached the site to monitor the situation and assist in transhipment.

This incident comes after the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express train hit three buffaloes on Thursday and a cow on Friday, both in Gujarat while on its way to Mumbai. Both the incidents took place in the afternoon.

While the accident on Thursday led to severe damage to its nose panel due to which it had to be replaced, the incident of Friday had less to minor dent on the driver coach. However, both these cases did not affect the train schedule.

The Vande Bharat was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30 and it commenced operations from October 1.