Train18, or Vande Bharat Express, the shining star of Make in India vision, and a poster boy of Indian Railways’ new, daring plans, is in deep trouble.
As per reports coming in, expansion of Vande Bharat Express has been abruptly halted, as there have been several severe cases of negligence reported.
What are these reasons?
Vande Bharat Express No Longer Being Expanded?
We had earlier reported that Indian Railways is now expanding the manufacturing of Vande Bharat Express at a rapid pace at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
The plan was to replace all Rajdhani Express trains with the new Made in India Vande Bharat Express, which has no engine and runs at 160 kmph speed, making it one of the fastest trains in India right now.
But it seems that all is not well with Vande Bharat Express.
Manufacturing of new coaches at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai has been stopped, as Vigilance Department found several anomalies in the procedures.
For instance, the purchase of electrical equipment for self-propelled trains.
Based on the complaints from vendors and companies, it has been found that a particular domestic company was favored over other companies in the allotment of contract.
Railway officials have declined to answer any query, as they stated that this is “speculative information”.
Inter-Departmental Rivalry Is Also A Reason?
There also have been complaints of an intense inter-departmental rivalry between the Mechanical and Electrical departments of Indian Railways, over Vande Bharat Express.
As per a report, the development team of Vande Bharat Express compromised security and safety of the train, by not taking technical approval from a particular department of electrical systems from a particular officer of the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow.
Some officials stated that the mechanical team, which is spearheading the development, saved time by not getting involved in the approval process, and the net result was that Vande Bharat Express was launched in record time, and is running successfully between New Delhi and Varanasi.
However, protocols must be followed.
Vigilance Department is investigating this case as well.
Further manufacturing of new coaches of Vande Bharat Express trains, for expanding into Rajdhani and Shatabdi will only commence once these enquires are over.
Approximately 40 new Vande Bharat Express trains were scheduled to be run by 2023, but now, it seems there will be some delay.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.