Over 60 cases of Vande-Bharat trains hit by animals reported this year: Ashwini Vaishnav to Lok Sabha

After multiple incidents of Vande Bharat train colliding with cattle in Gujarat, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in November started issuing notices to the heads of villages located along the route in Maharashtra's Palghar, asking them not to allow the animals roam unattended near the tracks.

Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Wednesday (December 14) in a written reply in the Lok Sabha said that as many as 68 cases of hit by animals and one case of axle lock due to bearing failure have been reported in Vande-Bharat Trains since June this year.

The railways minister also denied the claim that the reason for such incidents is defect in fiber-reinforced plastic. He  further said that all supplies of material are accepted only after prescribed inspection.

After multiple incidents of Vande Bharat train colliding with cattle in Gujarat, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in November started issuing notices to the heads of villages located along the route in Maharashtra's Palghar, asking them not to allow the animals roam unattended near the tracks.

The notices warned that if any cattle owner is found to be negligent, then legal action could be taken against him.

The Vande Bharat express train service between Gujarat and Maharashtra's capital cities was launched on September 30 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since its inception, as many as three incidents have taken place in Gujarat in which the train collided with cattle.

The express train rammed into cattle near Atul station in Gujarat. It was the third such incident since the inception of the train service.

Earlier, on October 6 and 7, the train had rammed into some cattle. Both the incidents had occurred in Gujarat. In all these incidents, the passengers were not hurt, although the train's front portion suffered damages.