Stones Pelted on Vande Bharat Express Enroute to Rourkela From Puri

Rourkela: Stones were pelted on Vande Bharat Express enroute to Rourkela from Puri in Odisha on Wednesday. The train's window panes were damaged during the incident. The stones were pelted from Rourkela in Sundergarh district.

Two windows panes of coach number 3 were damaged during the incident. After the incident, the train was halted at Kalunga as GRP and RPF personnel rushed to the spot along with technical staff.

The windows panes were fixed using a tape so that the train could resume its journey towards Rourkela. An investigation has been initiated into the incident.

This is not the first time the Vande Bharat train has been targeted in such a manner. Similar incidents have occurred in the past, involving India's indigenously developed semi-high-speed train.

In a statement, the Railways said that that their officials were probing the incident and trying to identify the miscreants involved and the reason behind targeting the train.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident but repeated attacks on India’s premier train is surely a concern for authorities. Though no one was injured in the incident, the attack could have resulted in serious injuries to the passengers.

Past attacks on Vande Bharat train

In February 2024, at least 9 coaches of Chennai-Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express were damaged after stone pelting by unidentified miscreants.

In March 2024, stones were pelted on 3 Vande Bharat express trains in a single day. The three trains that were targeted included KSR-Bengaluru-Dharwad Vande Bharat Express, Dharward-KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express and Mysuru-MGR Central Vande Bharat train.

Later in October 2024, stones were pelted on Chandigarh-New Delhi Vande Bharat express when the train was crossing Amb-Andaura station in Una.

At present, 136 Vande Bharat trains are currently in service connecting various cities and regions across the country. Apart from these, many more Vande Bharat trains have been proposed that will be put to service soon.

Railways Vande Bharat portfolio has three different trains including Vande Bharat Chair Car, Vande Bharat Metro, and upcoming Vande Bharat sleeper version.