LUCKNOW/ NEW DELHI: A snag hit the New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express carrying 1,000 passengers when one of its wheels jammed as the train was cruising at 100 km per hour on Saturday morning.
The fault was first detected by an alert gateman Shazeb and pointsman Brajesh Kumar who were on duty and alerted the railway operations control to halt the train. The train was halted at Wair railway station in Bulandshahr, about 67 km away from Delhi. Subsequently, the Vande Bharat rake had to be taken out of operation and a Shatabdi Express rake was sent to the site to transport the passengers to Varanasi.
This happened after two days of cattle overrun damaging the newly launched Vande Bharat train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Sources said there is hardly any possibility of the snag-hit Vande Bharat rake being brought back to service on Sunday. A Tejas rake may be used on Sunday as the Vande Bharat rake may have to be sent for repair and maintenance. Earlier also this rake was taken out of operation for nearly 45 days when it was sent for maintenance. Officials said during that period the Shatabdi rakes were used. Currently, there are three Vande Bharat trains, one each for Delhi-Varanasi, Delhi-Katra and AhmedabadMumbai routes.
According to officials, the train had left the New Delhi station at 6am on Saturday with 1,068 passengers onboard. After inspection of the train wheel by the onboard technical staff at Wair station, the train was taken 20 km further to Khurja railway station at a controlled speed of 20 km per hour. The railways has ordered a probe into the incident. Railways decided to withdraw the train around 7.20 am and its passengers were shifted to a Shatabdi Express rake. The same rake was used to bring passengers who had booked tickets for New Delhi from Varanasi in the evening. The return train started from Varanasi only at 9.15 pm, a delay of more than six hours.
Chief spokesperson of the North Central Railway (NCR) Himanshu Upadhayay said, “The train suffered a bearing defect in the traction motor of C8 coach between Dankaur and Wair stations. The bearing jam was rectified with assistance from the NCR team. However, due to development of a ‘flat tyre’ condition, the train was moved at a restricted speed of 20 kmph upto Khurja.” Flat tyre is formed when the brakes are jammed on the wheels causing drag and damaging their perfect roundness. “Around 12:40, all the passengers were deboarded and shifted to a Shatabdi Express rake which was brought from Delhi for their onward journey,” said a railway ministry official. Upadhyaya added that the technical fault was first detected by gateman Shazeb and pointsman Brajesh Kumar.
They informed the Dankaur station master who halted the train by deactivating overhead power supply. A traction motor is an electric motor used for the propulsion of a system such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple units. Traction motor bearings are key to the safe operation of high-speed trains, but they are also the most vulnerable component of the motor. An undetected bearing failure may cause serious accidents.
The fault was first detected by an alert gateman Shazeb and pointsman Brajesh Kumar who were on duty and alerted the railway operations control to halt the train. The train was halted at Wair railway station in Bulandshahr, about 67 km away from Delhi. Subsequently, the Vande Bharat rake had to be taken out of operation and a Shatabdi Express rake was sent to the site to transport the passengers to Varanasi.
This happened after two days of cattle overrun damaging the newly launched Vande Bharat train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Sources said there is hardly any possibility of the snag-hit Vande Bharat rake being brought back to service on Sunday. A Tejas rake may be used on Sunday as the Vande Bharat rake may have to be sent for repair and maintenance. Earlier also this rake was taken out of operation for nearly 45 days when it was sent for maintenance. Officials said during that period the Shatabdi rakes were used. Currently, there are three Vande Bharat trains, one each for Delhi-Varanasi, Delhi-Katra and AhmedabadMumbai routes.
According to officials, the train had left the New Delhi station at 6am on Saturday with 1,068 passengers onboard. After inspection of the train wheel by the onboard technical staff at Wair station, the train was taken 20 km further to Khurja railway station at a controlled speed of 20 km per hour. The railways has ordered a probe into the incident. Railways decided to withdraw the train around 7.20 am and its passengers were shifted to a Shatabdi Express rake. The same rake was used to bring passengers who had booked tickets for New Delhi from Varanasi in the evening. The return train started from Varanasi only at 9.15 pm, a delay of more than six hours.
Chief spokesperson of the North Central Railway (NCR) Himanshu Upadhayay said, “The train suffered a bearing defect in the traction motor of C8 coach between Dankaur and Wair stations. The bearing jam was rectified with assistance from the NCR team. However, due to development of a ‘flat tyre’ condition, the train was moved at a restricted speed of 20 kmph upto Khurja.” Flat tyre is formed when the brakes are jammed on the wheels causing drag and damaging their perfect roundness. “Around 12:40, all the passengers were deboarded and shifted to a Shatabdi Express rake which was brought from Delhi for their onward journey,” said a railway ministry official. Upadhyaya added that the technical fault was first detected by gateman Shazeb and pointsman Brajesh Kumar.
They informed the Dankaur station master who halted the train by deactivating overhead power supply. A traction motor is an electric motor used for the propulsion of a system such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple units. Traction motor bearings are key to the safe operation of high-speed trains, but they are also the most vulnerable component of the motor. An undetected bearing failure may cause serious accidents.
