After cattle and cow hit, now Varanasi Vande Bharat Express suffers a flat tyre

A ‘flat tyre’ in the railway terminology refers to the damage to the perfect roundness of the wheel with some “flat” places in its periphery.

The train suffered a snag in a traction motor that jammed its wheels and damaged their perfect roundness, a situation officials described as “flat tyre”.

The officials told PTI that the semi-high speed train left New Delhi station at its scheduled time of 06.00 am but it had to be withdrawn at Khurja station in Uttar Pradesh, just after travelling about 90 km.

“Varanasi Vande Bharat rake (Train no. 22436) has suffered a failure due to a bearing defect in the Traction Motor of C8 coach between the Dankaur and Wair stations of North Central Railway. The bearing jam was rectified with the assistance of NCR team, the Indian Railways said.

“However, due to the development of a flat tyre of 80 mm, the train has been moved at a restricted speed of 20 kmph up to Khurja. Replacement rake, departed from NDLS at 10:45 hrs has reached Khurja. Transshipment of passengers is being done at Khurja, it added.

All the 1,068 passengers had to be deboarded and shifted to a Shatabdi Express rake brought from Delhi for their onwards journey, which started around 12.40 pm.

It further added that a detailed investigation of the failure will be done after taking the rake back to the maintenance depot.

A traction motor is an electric motor used for the propulsion of a system such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple units.

Traction motor bearings are key to the safe operation of high-speed trains, but they are also the most vulnerable component of the motor. An undetected bearing failure may cause serious accidents.

Hence, any fault in the traction motor may force the train to be suspended or induce safety accidents.

Officials said the train crossed Dadri station of North Central Railway at 06.38 hours.

When it was hurtling past the level crossing gate no 146, the gateman working there felt some friction in the 7th compartment from the rear SLR (Seating cum Luggage Rake) of the train and immediately reported the brake block jam.

The train, cruising at around 100 kmph, was then halted at Wair Station (Bulandshahar) at 7:30 am, 67 km from Delhi.

Later, after inspection of the wheel by the onboard technical staff, the train was taken 20 km further to Khurja Railway Station at a controlled speed.

Senior Section Engineer, Carriage and Wagon, V K Meena said the Shatabdi Express began the onward journey after a four-hour wait by the passengers.

The Vande Bharat Express was being repaired to take it to Delhi, he said.

A ‘flat tyre’ in the railway terminology refers to the damage to the perfect roundness of the wheel with some “flat” places in its periphery.

This is the third day in a row that the Vande Bharat train has been in the news.

Earlier on Friday, the Vande Bharat Express train on Friday hit a cow near Anand in Gujarat while on its way to Mumbai. The incident took place at 3.49 pm between Kanjari and Anand stations, about 433 km from Mumbai, said Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer of Western Railway. “The train’s front portion has suffered a small dent,” he added. 

Senior PRO Pradeep Sharma said the train resumed journey within ten minutes after halting. It was not clear immediately if the cow survived the accident. 

Prior to that, on Thursday, four buffaloes were killed after being hit by the train on its way to Gandhinagar from Mumbai between Vatva and Maninagar railway stations. Its nose panel had to be replaced overnight due to the damage.

Speaking at an event at Anand on Friday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that collisions with cattle on the tracks were unavoidable. The train, which can reach the top speed of 160 kmph, has been designed keeping the possibility in mind, he added.

(With inputs from agencies)