A day after its inaugural ride was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Vande Bharat Express train broke down on Saturday – some 200 km outside Delhi. According to a report in The Indian Express, it was on its way back to Delhi from Varanasi when the breakdown took place. The express train is slated for its first commercial run on Sunday – a prospect now unlikely.
The brakes jammed in one of the last coaches of the train, as per reports. The loco engineers decreased the speed of the train after a rattling sound was heard. Smoke and a foul smell enveloped the last four coaches before the train came to a dead halt. The power also went off in all the coaches as per eyewitness reports.
After several telephonic consultations between the engineers onboard and senior officials elsewhere, the train was restarted at a speed of 10 kmph. Engineers on board were spotted talking to senior officials.
Since the rattling sound continued and the problem resurfaced, according to reports senior officials were once again consulted. It was then decided that the train would run at 40 kmph. At Chamraula, the train was brought to a complete halt when the contingency plans did not work out. The Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer Northern Railways was also consulted as per reports.
Set to reach Delhi in two and a half hours from Varanasi, the Vande Bharat Express is pitched as India’s fastest train. It is likely to be shifted to a maintenance shed and uncertainty now looms over its first commercial ride on Sunday.
Inaugurated on Friday after the Pulwama terror attacks which has claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, the celebrations were kept a simple affair.
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