Lightning, Hailstorm-Hit Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express Cancelled Today; Check The Damanges

Bhubaneswar: With the rake damaged by a thunderstorm in Odisha, the service of newly-launched Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express (22895/22896) was cancelled on Monday.

“The train will remain cancelled due to repairs of damages caused by a thunderstorm on May 21, 2023, in Cuttack-Bhadrak section of East Coast Railway (ECoR),” South Eastern Railway (SER) said in a statement, adding that no one was injured in the incident.

The train also got delayed and arrived at its destination 5 hours late than the scheduled time last night.

According to East Coast Railway (ECoR), the train was detained near Baitarani Road station in Jajpur after a tree uprooted by heavy wind due to nor’wester fell on the track and snapped the power cables around 4:45 on Sunday.

The windscreen of the main engine, as well as, the glass window of some compartments were also damaged in the incident. “22896 Vande Bharat Express was hit by lightning and a hailstorm that cracked the windscreen of the driver’s cabin,” said Railway officials.

With the pantograph entangled with the overhead wire, a diesel engine was then used clear the train from the site to Manjuri Road. It passed Manjuri Road at 8.36 pm and arrived Kenduapada at 9.04 pm. The diesel loco was detached at 9.24 pm and the train left at 9.35 pm and reached Bhadrak at 9.52 pm before chugging toward Howrah at 9.54 pm, the ECoR added.

The 17th Vande Bharat Express, Odisha’s first semi-high-speed train connecting the pilgrim town of Puri with West Bengal’s Howrah, was virtually flagged-off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 18.