Vande Bharat Express’ windows, driver screen damaged by flying ballast

Vande Bharat Express arrives at Varanasi Junction railway station. (Photo: IANS)


The driver screen and side windows of some coaches of the Vande Bharat Express were damaged due to flying ballast near Achalda in Uttar Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.

“In an incident near Achalda, Kanpur – Tundla section at 7.46 pm on Saturday, the Vande Bharat Express suffered damage to the main driver’s screen and eight side windows of seven coaches due to flying ballast,” said Deepak Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway.

“A shower of ballast came flying towards Vande Bharat Express when 12424 Dibrugarh Rajdhani, crossing on the adjoining line, had a cattle run over. The stone chunks hit the driver’s windscreen and outer glasses of windows of coach number C4, C6, C7, C8, C13 and two glass panes of C12, causing damage.”

The damage was assessed by the travelling technical team on board. After careful examination, the train was found fit to continue its onward journey at its normal speed.

The official said the railways attended to the damaged windows with safety sheets to ensure the train runs on time and the passengers are not inconvenienced in any way.