Tree branches fall on Vande Bharat, train halts for hours

kolkata: The newly introduced Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express had to stop for hours after tree branches fell on the train during a storm in Odisha’s Jajpur district on Sunday.

It has been reported that the tree branches got entangled with its pantograph and reportedly cracked its windshield. The incident took place around 4:45 pm between Baitarani Road and Manjuri Road stations.

According to South Eastern Railway (SER) official, no one was injured. The official said that they are in constant touch with East Coast Railway (ECR) where the damage has taken place. It has been reported that the windshield of the pilot cabin also got cracked as tree branches fell on it. According to media reports, a diesel engine will bring the train to Manjuri Road station. From there, it will reportedly work with its own engine. The SER official said that branches had fallen in the section and the ECR were trying to get the situation back to normal. As per the last update available at 8 pm, the train was stuck and the diesel engine had gotten stuck due to fallen branches on railway tracks. Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express on Monday has been cancelled due to repairing of damages caused by thunderstorm

on Sunday.