Mumbai-Ahmedabad ‘Vande Bharat Express’ hits cow again on track, third such incident in a month

The Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express train collided with cattle near Atul station in Gujarat on Saturday (October 29), delaying the train by 15-20 minutes, according to a railway official.

According to railway sources, the incident damaged the train’s front panel and dented the underbelly equipment of its first coach.

An official was quoted by the news agency PTI as saying, “The Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express train rammed into cattle near Atul station in Gujarat.”

This is the third such incident this month involving this semi-high-speed train.

“The train did not suffer any operational damage. It resumed further journey in 20 minutes,” Sumit Thakur, Western Railway’s chief public relations officer, added that all passengers on board the train were safe.

On October 6, four buffaloes were killed after being struck by this train on its way to Gandhinagar from Mumbai, between the railway stations of Vatva and Maninagar in Gujarat.

Due to the damage, its nose panel had to be replaced overnight.

The next day (October 7), the train collided with a cow near Anand in Gujarat on its way to Mumbai.

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.