Tree branches fall on Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat amid storm, crack windshield

Tree branches fell on the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express during a storm in Odisha's Jajpur district on Sunday, stranding it there for over three hours, officials said.

The branches got entangled with its pantograph, besides cracking its windshield, bringing the train to a halt, they said.

No one was injured in the incident, a South Eastern Railway (SER) official said.

The incident happened around 4.45 pm between Baitarani Road and Manjuri Road stations, near the Jajpur Keonjhar Road station, he said.

The train remained stranded there for over three hours, before it restarted its journey with a diesel engine at 8.05 pm, the official said.

A diesel engine would haul the train to Bhadrak as the overhead traction wire was damaged by the fallen tree branches, he said.

''It will run on its own from Bhadrak to Howrah thereafter,'' he added.

The up and down services of the train will remain cancelled on Monday since some repairs would be required for the rake, the SER said.

''22895/22896 Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat express will remain cancelled for repairs of damages caused by thunderstorm on May 21 in Cuttack-Bhadrak section of East Coast Railway,'' a statement by SER said.

The train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, and commenced its commercial run on Saturday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)