Vande Bharat Express runs into trouble

A day after being flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's first semi-high speed train, Vande Bharat Express, ran into some technical trouble early on Saturday while returning to New Delhi from Varanasi.

However, the railways claimed that the problems have been fixed and it will start its first commercial run as per the earlier schedule on Sunday morning from New Delhi Railway Station. All seats have been booked for the first sojourn of the engine-less train.

After completing its successful inaugural run from New Delhi to Varanasi on 15th Feb 2018 at a speed of 130 km per hour, the train had left Varanasi Junction for New Delhi at 10:30 pm on Friday.

Train 18, which was recently rechristened Vande Bharat Express, it faced technical glitches on its return journey to New Delhi. Those on board claimed that the problem related to malfunctioning of brakes.

The railways said that "During the transportation back from Varanasi it was stopped at Chamraula station of National Capital Region, about 18 kms after crossing Tundla station. There was an issue of communication between the last basic unit of 4 coaches and the rest of the train probably due to some external hit. Thereafter, safety features in the train applied brakes. The train was checked for faults and moved to Delhi."

“The train has been examined at New Delhi maintenance depot to rectify the defect in communication that occurred enroute. All other systems of the train have also been thoroughly examined,” the statement said.

"This disruption appears to be because of a possible cattle run over. The train was returning at night and cattle run over is a possibility at odd times," an official from the Ministry said separately.

Train 18 has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15. It became India's fastest train by hitting speeds of over 180 kmph during a trial run.