Highlights
- According to Western Railway officials, the accident occurred between Vatva station to Maninagar station at around 11.15 am.
- Following the incident, the Railways is reportedly trying to counsel nearby villagers not to leave cattle near the track.
- The Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30.
The engine of a Vande Bharat Express running between Mumbai Central to Gurajat’s Gandhinagar was left damaged after it collided with a herd of buffaloes on Thursday.
According to Western Railway officials, the accident occurred between Vatva station to Maninagar station at around 11.15 am.
The Nose of Vande Bharat Express Damaged
“Three-four buffaloes suddenly came on the way of Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat, damaging the nose made up of fiber-reinforced plastic,” a Railway spokesperson said, adding that no functional part was damaged in the incident.
“The train moved just after removing carcasses (within 8 minutes) and reached Gandhinagar on time. The incident occurred at 11:18 between Gairatpur-Vatva station,” the spokesperson said.
Following the incident, the Railways is reportedly trying to counsel nearby villagers not to leave cattle near the track.
Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express Timing Revised
The mishap occurred a day after the Western Railway had further reduced the traveling time of the Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express train.
The travel time for the service that started on October 1 was reduced by five minutes, and will also arrive 20 minutes early at Mumbai Central from Gandhinagar effective from Wednesday.
Gandhinagar-bound Vande Bharat Express will reach its destination at 12.25 pm instead of the current 12.30 pm. It will reach Mumbai Central at 8.15 pm instead of the current time at 8.35 pm.
The Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30.
New Vande Bharat trains will hit 200 kmph
On Tuesday Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the advanced version of Vande Bharat trains will be able to attain a maximum speed of 200 km per hour (kmph).
“The next version of Vande Bharat trains will be manufactured in Marathwada. Nearly 1,600 coaches will be manufactured at the facility in Latur. Each coach will cost Rs 8 crore to 9 crore. The project will create opportunities for companies located in a radius of 400 km to 500 km,” he added.
Talking about the next generation of Vande Bharat Express, Vaishnaw said, “The maximum speed of these trains will be 200 kmph as compared to 180 kmph now. The first coach of this version will be rolled out in the next 15 to 16 months.” On challenges in manufacturing the semi-high-speed trains, the minister said,
“We succeeded in bringing down the noise level inside them to 60-65 decibels which is less than an aircraft (85-90 decibels).” The speed of laying railway tracks has gone up since 2014, he said.
“The speed of laying railway tracks was 4 km per day prior to 2014. This has now reached 12 km per day and the government intends to scale this up to 20 km per day,” Vaishnaw said.
