Passengers Stranded as Vande Bharat Train Doors Lock: Chaos at Surat Railway Station
Passengers traveling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai on the Vandebharat Express faced inconvenience as the doors of the train did not open for more than an hour at Surat railway station. The Vandebharat Express arrives at Surat from Ahmedabad at 8:20 in the morning. However, due to technical reasons, the doors of the train did not open, causing distress to passengers who needed to disembark at the station.
Even after attempts to turn off the lights and air conditioning, the doors remained closed. Railway staff had to resort to manually opening the doors of coach C-14 of the train. All passengers disembarking at Surat railway station from the Vandebharat Express had to exit through the manual doors of coach C-14.
Passengers traveling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai on the Vandebharat Express faced inconvenience as the doors of the train did not open for more than an hour upon reaching Surat station. The Vandebharat Express usually arrives at Surat railway station around 8:20 in the morning, and passengers were ready to disembark from their respective coaches upon arrival. However, the doors of the coaches remained closed, causing confusion among passengers who were seated inside. Some passengers seated in the coaches were unable to comprehend what was happening.
After some time, railway staff approached the Vandebharat Express to assess the situation. It was found that the doors of the train were not opening due to technical reasons. Consequently, a team of engineers from the railway department was immediately deployed to address the issue. After careful examination and necessary adjustments, the engineers successfully managed to manually open the doors of the train, allowing passengers to disembark safely.
Twenty-seven days ago, there was a sudden incident involving a buffalo on the tracks near Jamnagar railway station, causing a halt to the Vandebharat Express train and posing a threat to the lives of passengers onboard. Fortunately, no casualties occurred, and the railway system quickly managed to mitigate the situation, averting a major disaster. After a brief delay, the train resumed its journey towards Okha. The incident occurred on the route between Jamnagar and Ahmedabad, affecting the schedule of a special express train bound for Okha, which had to be extended by 20 days.
Instances of accidents involving buffaloes on the tracks and affecting the movement of the Vande Bharat Express train have been consistently observed. Notably, the train has experienced accidents twice within the span of a few days since its inception. During the initial days of operation, the train encountered mishaps twice within days. On October 6, 2022, near Vatva, Ahmedabad, the train was obstructed by two buffaloes on the tracks. Despite attempts by the train driver to stop, both buffaloes were hit, resulting in damage to the front part of the train.
Incidents of such nature have been reported in Ahmedabad, Anand, and Valsad. On October 7, 2022, near Kanjari, Anand, a cow was hit by the Vande Bharat train, leading to casualties among passengers. Similarly, on October 29, 2022, near Atul Railway Station, Valsad, the train collided with a bullock, resulting in fatalities. These incidents caused damage to the front part of the train and tragically resulted in the loss of life of a woman who was on board during one of the accidents.
Following this, on October 8, 2022, the Vande Bharat Express traveling from Delhi to Varanasi was halted due to technical glitches. The train was stalled at Khurja station for nearly 5 hours. Subsequently, arrangements were made to transfer passengers to the Shatabdi Express.
