Railways suspends official for 10 min delay in trial run of Vande Bharat train in Kerala; revoked

Thiruvananthapuram: Indian Railways suspended an official for causing a delay during the trial run of the Vande Bharat Express on Tuesday in Kerala. 

PL Kumar, a staff at Thiruvananthapuram Division Office, was suspended following a 10-minute delay during the trial run from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram. 

The decision was later revoked due to protest from employees’ unions.

Meanwhile, the Vande Bharat Express successfully completed its maiden trial run on Monday morning, travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur in 7 hours and 10 minutes at an average speed of less than 70 kmph. 

The train departed Kannur at 2.10 pm and reached Thiruvananthapuram at 9.30 pm, taking 7 hours 20 minutes to cover the distance. This is 10 minutes higher than its journey from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur. The train departed from Thiruvananthapuram station at 5:10 am and arrived at Kannur at 12:20 pm.

The train was carrying senior railway officials and engineers on board.