2 one-way Vande Bharat trains between Sabarmati, Gurgaon fail to run on planned route

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) The two one-way superfast special Vande Bharat trains between Sabarmati and Gurgaon, operated by the Ahmedabad Division of the Western Railways on October 5 and 6, failed to run their scheduled routes on both occasions due to the trainsets being unsuitable for the notified path.

When approached for a response, Ved Prakash, Divisional Railway Manager of Ahmedabad Rail Division, did not respond.

On October 4, the Western Railway (WR) had notified train no. 09401, the Sabarmati-Gurgaon One-way Vande Bharat Superfast Special train, to be operated only on two days from Sabarmati (Gujarat) to Gurugram (Haryana) with stoppages at Mehsana, Palanpur, Abu Road, Marwar, Ajmer, Jaipur, Alwar and Rewari.

Sabarmati comes under the Ahmedabad Rail Division, which was assigned responsibility for arranging the trainset and deputing the crew.

Officials said double-stack container trains from the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) transit between freight corridors and the Indian Railway network, so the height of Overhead Equipment (OHE) has been increased from the usual 5 metres to 7.3 metres.

"While in other parts of the country, the height of OHE is 5 metres, on routes serving as feeder routes for DFC, the OHE height has been increased to 7.3 metres," an official said.

"However, the two Vande Bharat superfast specials, which were notified as one-way special trains between Sabarmati (Gujarat) to Gurugram (Haryana), were unsuitable for the scheduled route with 7.3-metre-high OHE, as they were equipped with a low-rise pantograph designed for 5-metre overhead wires," he added.

The eight-car Vande Bharat train was scheduled to cover 894 km in 14 hours and 55 minutes, with an average speed of 59.93 kmph, according to the WR notification.

"The first train, which departed from Sabarmati at 5:30 pm on October 5, didn't go via Mehsana. Instead, it was diverted through Ahmedabad and Udaipur. The second special, on the following day, started on time but was diverted via Chhayapuri and Vadodara junction," a railway official said.

He added, "Departments such as the Electrical Coaching, Traffic Controllers and the train's crew should be held accountable for the technical oversight." Media reports said that instead of the scheduled 14 hours and 55 minutes, the trains took 20 to 28 hours to arrive at their scheduled destinations.

"The two Vande Bharat rakes had arrived from Mumbai and the Western Railway decided to utilise them as one-way specials from Sabarmati for passengers' convenience. However, poor planning and oversight caused huge inconvenience to passengers," officials added.

Prakash, who was earlier posted as OSD to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rail Bhawan in New Delhi, did not respond when asked if any action was taken against the officials involved in the mismanagement. PTI JP JP KSS KSS