One Day After Launch, Vande Bharat Express Breaks Down 200 KM Outside Delhi; Reasons Unknown, Brake Jamming Suspected

One day after being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) broke down early Saturday, around 200 kilometres outside Delhi.

Much before the complete dead halt of the train, the last coaches of the train started making a rattling sound. To check this, the suspicious loco-pilots decreased the speed for some time. Smoke was noticed, and a foul smell was felt in the last four coaches. Power went out in all coaches, and the engineers restarted the train at 10 kmph.

According to the onboard information display, the train was supposed to reach Delhi in two-and-a-half hours until then. Engineers kept looking underneath the coaches with torchlights and other equipment.

However, brake bidding is not uncommon in Railways. They were describing jamming of the parking brake as well as the holding brake as a possible reason, reported Indian Express.

When multiple tries failed, the officials decided to bring it to a complete halt near Chamraula. This was not a commercial run. The train was being moved to Delhi for the first commercial run on Sunday, which is overbooked beyond capacity.