64 windows of Mysuru-Chennai Vande Bharat Express replaced in six months due to stone pelting; Report
The Chennai division of Southern Railways (SR) had to replace a total of 64 windows of the Mysuru-Chennai Vande Bharat Express harmed by stone pelters in the last six months.
FollowChennai: Stone pelters have regularly attacked the premium Vande Bharat Express between Mysuru and Chennai, which the Prime Minister flagged off months ago. Since the train's debut on November 11, 2022, the Chennai division of Southern Railways (SR) had to replace a total of 64 windows harmed by attackers.
No other train operating under the SR has registered such a high number of cases in a period of six and a half months, despite the fact that stone pelting is a persistent infraction encountered by the railway.
Ananth Rupanagudi, Chief Project Manager in the SR Chennai division, said that miscreants broke seven windows in seven different locations throughout Tamil Nadu. "The other people have records that go beyond Jolarpet (the jurisdiction of Bengaluru division). Ananth continued, "More than 80% of the occurrences took place in regions under the control of the Bengaluru division.
The Additional Divisional Railway Manager in Bengaluru, Kusuma told The News Minute (TNM) that 26 windows were replaced within the Bengaluru jurisdiction.
The officers from both divisions agreed that no train has experienced such a large volume of stone-pelting incidents.
Between January 1 and May 10 of this year, Tamil Nadu saw a total of 45 incidences of stone-throwing on all different kinds of trains (local, express, fast trains, etc.), according to Rajaiah, the Assistant Security Commissioner of SR in Chennai. The Vande Bharat Express has, nevertheless, received more frequent attacks than any other train in the state.
“Close to 10 of these instances happened between Ramanagara and Mandya while the rest took place between Malur and Cantonment,” Kusuma told TNM.
The luxury Vande Bharat Express's windows cost Southern Railways Rs 12,000 each. An additional Rs 8,000 went towards labour charges. Engineers at either of the locations evaluate the damage after receiving reports of stone-throwing, and if the damage is significant, the concerned maintenance staff repairs the window right away. SR has already invested Rs 12,80,000 in fixing the 64 damaged windows.
Both divisions have increased patrolling alongside the locations where the majority of cases have occurred in an effort to lower the number of such incidents.
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