The newly-launched Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express train suffered minor damage after hitting a herd of buffaloes in Gujarat on late Thursday morning, officials said. No passenger was injured in the incident that occurred around 11.15 am near Ahmedabad when the train was on its way to Gandhinagar and it reached the final destination four minutes early, they said, adding three buffaloes perished.
"The Vande Bharat express running between Mumbai Central and Gandhinagar Capital stations had left Mumbai this morning. The front portion of the train's engine got damaged after it hit some buffaloes that came on track around 11.15 am. The incident took place between Vatva and Maninagar areas of Ahmedabad," Western Railway (WR) spokesperson Jitendra Kumar Jayant said. "The damaged portion was repaired and the train left for Gandhinagar. The train departed for Mumbai from Gandhinagar Capital (on return journey) at its scheduled time (in the afternoon). No passenger was injured in the incident," he said in Ahmedabad.
Another Railway spokesperson said the front portion of the engine was damaged, but no functional part of the train was harmed.
"Three to four buffaloes suddenly came on the way of the Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat, damaging the nose made up of FRP (fibre-reinforced plastic). The train left for Gandhinagar just after removing carcasses (within eight minutes)," he said.
Railway authorities were trying to counsel nearby villagers not to leave their cattle near the track, he said. The train reached four minutes before time to its final destination even though it was detained for about 10 minutes after the incident, a WR officer said in Mumbai. The officer said the train was scheduled to reach Gandhinagar Capital at 12.25 pm, but it arrived at the station at 12.21 pm. Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer (CPRO), WR, told PTI the train was running as per the sanctioned speed on the section when the buffaloes suddenly came on the tracks.
"The driver of the train was fully alert. He immediately blew the train's whistle and also applied brakes, but the reaction time was less," Thakur said. The CPRO said WR is going to undertake fencing work on the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad section to increase the speed of the train to 160 kmph and avoid such incidents in the future. The fencing work is likely to be completed by March 2024, Thakur said.
Another official said three buffaloes died in the incident. The indigenously designed and manufactured semi-high speed train, the third service under the Vande Bharat series, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30 from Gandhinagar Capital and its started the commercial run from the next day. Vande Bharat Express trains already run on Delhi-Varanasi and Delhi-Katra routes.
From Wednesday (October 5), WR revised the train's timetable and reduced travelling time by 5 minutes between Mumbai Central and Gandhinagar Capital and by 20 minutes between Gandhinagar Capital and Mumbai Central.
The indigenously designed trainset (Train-18) has undergone a lot of upgradation in its Vande Bharat 2.0 version. In the new version, rotating seats in executive chair car coaches, automatic sliding doors, improved communication between guard and loco pilots, aeroplane-like vacuum toilets, improved interiors and reclining seats are some of the major upgrades.