Vande Bharat Express at Allahabad Junction on Friday

ALLAHABAD: A day after its flag-off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Vande Bharat Express developed a technical snag on Saturday morning on its return journey from Varanasi to the national capital.

Initially, a railway spokesperson said the snag might have been caused by the “train running over cattle” on the tracks. However, by evening, the railways said, “There was an issue of communication between the last basic unit of four coaches and the rest of the train probably due to some external hit. Thereafter, safety features in the train applied brakes. The train was checked for faults and moved to Delhi.” Railways said the snag had been fixed and the train is fit for its commercial run starting Sunday.

However, sources said the train faced a “brake-binding” snag around 5.30am near Tundla junction due to some failure in the system resulting in skidding of the wheels of the last coaches, which impacted the train’s entire system. Power went out in all the coaches and even the air-conditioning stopped. Technical personnel on board immediately starting working to fix the problem.

An official release said all systems of the train have also been thoroughly examined and “the train will be able to run as per schedule on February 17”. The first commercial run has been fully booked.

Currently, there’s only one train — it will go to Varanasi in the morning and return to Delhi the same day — and as such if it develops a snag the entire schedule may get affected.

Half a dozen mediapersons, including a TOI reporter, were shifted to the Vikramshila Express by the officials after the snag so they could return to Delhi. Taking a dig at the PM over the incident, Congress chief RahulGandhilater tweeted, “Modiji, I think Make in India needs a serious rethink. Most people feel it has failed. I assure you we in the Congress are thinking very deeply about how it will be done.”

Officials of the North Central Railway told TOI that the train’s brakes were automatically locked after one of the four pantographs — an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train to collect power through contact with an overhead line — malfunctioned. The train was brought from Barhan to Hathras at 8.55am and left for Delhi at 10.23am after the glitch was repaired.

NCR spokesperson Gaurav Krishna Bansal said, “The train pilots found some technical problem with pantograph number one of the train, after which alternative pantographs two and three were activated for further journey. The train was thoroughly inspected before commencing the journey for Delhi.” Another official said, “Such small glitches will often come to light for the next couple of months as the crew members do not have sufficient experience with the new technology used in the train. There was a need of at least three months’ trial on smaller stretches before launching it for a longer journey.”

