Howrah-NJP Vande Bharat Express: Unidentified miscreants pelted stones at the newly introduced train

 

• The train covers a distance of approximately 550 km and will take a little over seven and a half hours from Howrah to NJP to reach its destination with only three stoppages.

Unidentified miscreants pelted stones on Monday, the second day of commercial operation of the newly introduced Howrah-NJP Vande Bharat Express. The premium train was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra on 30 December through video conferencing.

Stones were pelted at Bharat Express Bandh going from New Jalpaiguri to Howrah. According to reports, initially the stone fell on India's C-13 coach of Vande Bharat Express near Kumarganj station at around 5:10 pm. This broke the glass of the compartment door. However, initially there was no news of any passenger being injured.

According to railway sources, the New Jalpaiguri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express halted at Malda Town, which was the scheduled stop. Questions are also being raised whether the stone-pelting in Bande was deliberately aimed at India. Railways is probing the entire incident.

West Bengal | The Vande Bharat Express connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri was pelted with stones only 4 days after its commencement. The incident took place near Malda station.

— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2023

Regarding this matter, Chief Public Relations Officer of Eastern Railway, Eklavya Chakraborty said, 'Who threw (stones) it is being investigated. There was an incident of stone pelting. The incident took place 20-25 km before entering Malda station (area under North-East Frontier Railway). Happens at different times in different places. We are aware of this. Various programs are organized. It has become very less. But today it happened again. It has to be seen. We are in touch with the state government."

A case has been registered against unknown persons under section 154 of the Railways Act. One of the glass panes of the main door was damaged. No passenger was injured. Due to this, the train was not delayed," according to a statement by the Indian Railways.

The train covers a distance of approximately 550 km and will take a little over seven and a half hours to reach its destination, from Howrah to NJP with only three stoppages.

Vande Bharat operates six days a week except Wednesday. The train leaves Howrah at 5.50 am and reaches NJP at 1.25 pm. The train will leave NJP at 3.05 pm and reach Howrah at 10.35 pm.

In another incident last month, window panes of the Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express train were damaged after a stone was thrown by an unidentified person in Chhattisgarh. He told that the incident took place on Wednesday evening between Durg and Bhilai Nagar railway stations under Raipur division of South East Central Railway (SECR), when this semi-high speed train was going to Bilaspur in the state. "Somebody hurled a stone at the train from outside, which damaged a window of the E1 coach last evening. But no one was injured in the incident," the official said. He said the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was informed about it and a probe was launched. The Vande Bharat Express train, between Nagpur in Maharashtra and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, is the sixth such service in the country.