Empty VB With Faulty Brakes Travels 463 km
The incident occurred on October 24, when an empty Vande Bharat chair car rake was being hauled by a freight locomotive from Hatia in Jharkhand to Jhansi in UP
New Delhi: An empty Vande Bharat train travelled 463 km without functioning coach brakes in October after railway officials allegedly ignored repeated warnings from loco pilots, prompting the South Eastern Railway to order an inquiry into the serious safety lapse.
The incident occurred on October 24, when an empty Vande Bharat chair car rake was being hauled by a freight locomotive from Hatia in Jharkhand to Jhansi in UP. The incident came days before the November 11 derailment of the Kolkata-Sairang Express in Assam, where a preliminary inquiry also pointed to a possible braking system failure.
“Running a train without adequate brake power is a serious safety concern that may lead to a major accident, endangering the lives of staff and passengers and affecting the safety of railway operations,” the SER said. The inquiry identified lapses involving carriage and wagon staff, section and traction controllers and the train crew.