Stones pelted again on Secunderabad-Vizag Vande Bharat

Visakhapatnam: The departure of Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express was delayed by four hours on Thursday after some miscreants pelted stones on the train.

Window glass of C-8 coach was broken due to the stone pelting between Khammam and Vijayawada stations on Wednesday when the train was coming to Visakhapatnam from Secunderabad. Since the window glass had to be replaced, the train’s departure from Visakhapatnam on Thursday was delayed, said an official of Waltair Division Railway.

The Vande Bharat Express, which was scheduled to depart Visakhapatnam at 5.45 a.m., left at 9.45 a.m.

Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express has also been rescheduled on Thursday. The train which was scheduled to depart Secunderabad at 3 p.m. will now depart at 7 p.m. due to late running of its pairing train.

This was the third incident of stone pelting on Vande Bharat Express in three months. In February, unidentified people had pelted stones on the train between Mahabubabad and Khammam railway station.

Earlier, stone pelting on the train was reported near Visakhapatnam even before its launch in January.

The stone pelting incident had occurred on January 10 near the coach complex at Kancharlapalem. Glass of a window was fully shattered while another suffered a crack.

Police had arrested three persons for the incident. According to police, the accused were in an inebriated condition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat Express on January 15.