Vande Bharat trains equipped with safety tech in production phase itself: Southern Railway

CHENNAI: Vouching for the safety of Vande Bharat trains, officials of Southern Railway (SR) on Monday clarified that the Vande Bharat trains have strong safety features and are fitted with the Kavach Safety system and other safety devices installed during manufacturing itself.

In a clarification statement issued consequent upon media reports questioning its safety, Southern Railway said, "With Faster Acceleration and Semi High-Speed operation up to 160 kmph, the Vande Bharat trains are designed with modern coupling design which transmits the impact energy throughout the train."

"The front nose cone of these trains is designed to absorb energy in case of cattle being hit. It is made of material that crumbles and absorbs impact energy. For additional safety, there is a cattle guard at the front to deflect anything that comes on the track," the clarification said and emphasised that the Vande Bharat trains have Kavach in addition to the braking system which is modern and fully integrated with the safety system.

Having run lakhs of kilometres by now, equivalent to covering the earth's perimeter multiple times, the trains have proven to be safe and efficient, the statement added. High-speed, enhanced safety standards and world-class service are the hallmarks of this train, SR release said and claimed that as a part of its initiative to prevent cattle runovers, Indian Railways has already fenced more than 3,500 km of tracks.

MPs flag 'Hindi' overreach in SR HQs

Sriperumbudur MP TR Baalu met with RN Singh, General Manager of the SR, over the signage(s) on the campus being in Hindi and even the Tamil words being transliterated like Subodh (eatery) being written as is in Tamil. MPs of Tamil Nadu have registered their condemnation, he told media persons.