Stones pelted at newly launched Vande Bharat Express in Kerala

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: An incident of stone pelting was reported on the newly launched Vande Bharat Express train in Kerala, informed officials. According to Southern Railway officials, the incident was reported when the train was travelling between Tirunavaya and Tirur. The train was going to Thiruvananthapuram from Kasargod.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on April 25. "No one was injured. The windshield of one coach was damaged. Police have registered a case. We have decided to strengthen train security," said Southern Railway.

Earlier on April 6, a fresh incident of stone pelting was reported at the Vande Bharat Express from Visakhapatnam, informed officials This is the third incident of stone pelting in the last three months. According to officials, a coach window glass was broken due to the pelting of stones by miscreants.

"Stone pelting was reported between Khammam and Vijayawada railway stations while coming from Secunderabad. The incident happened on Wednesday evening in South Central Railway zone premises," stated a Waltair Division Railway press note.

Earlier in January, stones were pelted on the Vande Bharat train in Visakhapatnam city of Andhra Pradesh during maintenance. The glass pane of a coach of Vande Bharat Express was damaged near Kancharapalem in Visakhapatnam.

According to Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Anup Kumar Sethupati, "Some unknown persons pelted stones at Vande Bharat train as it reached Visakhapatnam for maintenance and train run.

Stones were pelted on train coaches while it was going to the coach care centre for maintenance from Visakhapatnam station. Earlier on March 12, an incident of stone pelting on Vande Bharat Express train was reported from West Bengal in which window panes of a coach of the high-speed train were damaged, Eastern Railway said in a statement.

The incident was reported to have taken place near Farrakka in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

In January 2023, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) informed that two window panes of the Vande Bharat Express train were left damaged after stones were allegedly pelted on the two coaches near the Phansidewa area of the Darjeeling district.

This was the second attack as earlier in the same month the Vande Bharat Express window panes were broken as stones were thrown at the train connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri near Malda.

The RPF Commander had informed that the incident happened near the Phansidewa area in the Darjeeling district.

"Windows of coach C3 and C6 of Vande Bharat Express were found damaged due to stone pelting. It was found, windows were damaged near Phansidewa area in Darjeeling district when the train was moving towards New Jalpaiguri," he had said.