Vande Bharat Express breaks down on Delhi-Varanasi route

New Delhi: With uncertainty surrounding Sunday's first commercial operation, Vande Bharat Express, India's first semi-high speed train, broke down near Tundla as the breaks jammed in one of the last coaches when it was returning to New Delhi from Varanasi. Only a day after being launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country's first engineless train, was stranded around 200 kilometres outside Delhi on Saturday morning.

The Vande Bharat Express was being brought back to the national capital for its first commercial operation on Sunday. The passengers on board shifted to another train.

Possible cattle run over

To fix the fault, the train will be taken to Delhi and it won't be able to travel at speeds more than 40 kilometres per hour for the time being. However, the Railway Ministry has said the disruption was caused due to a possible cattle run over. "Vande Bharat Express was standing 18km from Tundla since 6.30 am. There seems to be disruption due to a possible cattle run over," the Railway Ministry said.

However, going by various media reports, the train had no electricity in four coaches while the breaks jammed because of engine failure.

Vande Bharat Express, an indigenous electric multiple unit (EMU) manufactured by the Chennai-based Integrated Coach Factory, is expected to cover the 750-kilometre distance between New Delhi and Varanasi in eight hours.

With a top speed of 180 km per hour, the train had attained speeds of 130 km per on hour, on Friday's inaugural run.