Within a span of 24 hours, the Vande Bharat Express train has been twice hit by animals on the track. This has raised a serious question mark over the safety measures in place for the operation of this high-speed train service. On Friday, the Vande Bharat Express on the Gandhinagar-Mumbai route hit a cow near Anand station in Gujarat, a day after the train hit a herd of buffaloes.
There was only a dent in the train’s front bumper and it had to be halted for 10 minutes. In Thursday’s incident, the newly launched semi-high-speed train had hit four buffaloes, and its ‘nose’ cone had come off. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that such collisions with cattle are unavoidable and “this has been kept in mind while designing the train.” The statement of the minister seems more like an attempt at eye-washing the incident. In both incidents, it could have turned into a major disaster. The railway ministry should order a probe and look into the loopholes that caused the incidents. With the government of India planning to launch an ambitious bullet train in the future, the experience of running the Vande Bharat Express can come in handy. If the government struggles to run this service, it can have a more difficult time running bullet trains.