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Vande Bharat Express breaks down; shadow over tomorrow's commercial run

The breakdown happened almost 18 hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Train 18 on Friday evening

Vande mataram express or train 18
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Photo: Dalip Kumar

Shine Jacob Barhan

The Indian Railways on Saturday said the Vande Bharat Express possibly hit a cow on its return journey from Varanasi to New Delhi, causing it to break down for a while. Those on the train said it was a traumatic experience.

Railway officials said commercial operations of the train would start as scheduled from Sunday.

Indian’s first semi-high speed train, Vande Bharat, was flagged off on Friday from the national capital by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Saturday, during its return journey, it ran into trouble near Barhan, about 600 km northwest of Varanasi.

At 4:30 a.m., it stopped on its tracks. Power