Digital Desk: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Gujarat has
filed a case against the owners of buffaloes hit by the Mumbai-Gandhinagar
Vande Bharat express, causing damage to the train's front end, officials said
on Friday.
The nose cone cover of the semi-high speed train's driver coach,
which was damaged after colliding with the buffaloes, was replaced with a new
one in Mumbai, the Western Railway (WR) said in a statement.
The newly launched Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat train
collided with a herd of buffaloes near Ahmedabad around 11.15 a.m. on Thursday,
while on its way to Gandhinagar. According to officials, four buffaloes were
killed in the incident.
"The RPF has lodged a first information report (FIR)
against the unidentified owners of the buffaloes that got in the way of the
Vande Bharat train between Vatva and Maninagar railway stations in
Ahmedabad," said Jitendra Kumar Jayant, WR's senior spokesperson
(Ahmedabad division).
The FIR was filed under Section 147 of the Railways Act, 1989,
which deals with unauthorized entry into any part of a railway and misuse of
its property, according to RPF inspector Pradeep Sharma posted at Vatva railway
station.
"The FIR was filed on Thursday evening in connection with
the killing of four buffaloes," he said. So far, the railway police have
not been able to identify the owners of the buffaloes, but efforts are being
made to do so, he said.
Mr. Sharma added that the incident occurred in the Punitnagar
area near Vatva railway station on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
The train's damaged FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic) nose cone
cover was replaced in Mumbai, according to a statement from the WR.
"The cattle-hit incident damaged the nose cone cover and
mounting brackets of the train's driver coach. However, the train's vital components
were unaffected. The damaged nose cone was replaced at Mumbai Central's Coach
Care Centre "Sumit Thakur, WR's chief public relations officer, stated.
He said that following the incident on Thursday, the train had
traveled to Gandhinagar Capital station and back to Mumbai Central without the
nose cover panel because there was no damage to the train's vital components.
"The nose cover is designed to absorb impact without
transmitting it to the train's functional parts. As a result, it is sacrificial
by design and thus replaceable "Mr. Thakur continued.
He claims that the railway keeps enough nose cones on hand
as spares.
"The damaged nose cone was quickly replaced, and the
train was returned to service with no additional downtime. The train left
Mumbai today without any problems for the passengers "He stated.
According to the official, Western Railway is taking all
necessary precautions to avoid similar incidents in the future. The third
service in the Vande Bharat series, the indigenously designed and manufactured
semi-high-speed train, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
September 30 from Gandhinagar Capital, and it began commercial service the
following day.
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