New Delhi/ Agra: Barely 24 hours before its scheduled first commercial run, the brand new Vande Bharat Express developed technical snags on Saturday morning resulting in over three hours breakdown at Tundla junction while returning to Delhi from Varanasi.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the semi high-speed train on Friday morning for its inaugural run.Sources said the train faced “brake-binding” snag due to some failure in the system resulting in skidding of the wheels of last coach and it impacted the train’s entire system around 5.30 am. The on-board technical personnel were spotted trying to fix the glitch.Before the train came to complete halt at Barhan, which was about 190 km from Delhi, its last coaches started making thumping noise. The pilots reduced the speed to a safe limit so that the track is not impacted adversely. Power went out in all the coaches and even the air-conditioning stopped.After sticking to “probable cattle overrun” as the reason throughout the day, the railway finally issued a clarification in the evening. “There was an issue of communication between the last basic unit of four coaches and the rest of the train probably due to some external hit. Thereafter, safety features in the train applied brakes. The train was checked for faults and moved to Delhi,” it said.An official release said all systems of the train have also been thoroughly examined and “the train will be able to run as per schedule on February 17 (today)”. All seats for the train has been booked for the next few days.TOI reporter was in the train along with half a dozen other media persons when it developed technical snag. Railway officials shifted media persons to Vikramshila Express as they were unsure how long it would take to fix the glitch.Meanwhile, officials of North Central Railway (NCR) told this newspaper the train brakes were automatically locked after one of the four pantographs - an apparatus mounted on the roof of electric train to collect power through contact with an overhead line - reported malfunctioning. The train was brought to halt at Hathras junction from Barhan at 8.55 am and left for Delhi at 10.23 am after rectifying the glitch.NCR spokesperson Gaurav Krishna Bansal said, “The train pilots found some technical problem with pantograph number one of the train, after which the alternative pantographs two and three were activated for the further journey. The train was thoroughly inspected before commencing the journey for Delhi.”Anther official said, “Such small glitches will often come to light for next couple months, as the crew involved in its operation does not have sufficient experience with the new technology used in the train. There was a need of at least three months trial for inferior/minor commercial service before putting into superior/ major commercial service.”While giving the go ahead for commercial run of the train, the railway safety regulator in January had put the condition of deploying “duly trained mechanical and electrical supervisors and staff” with the safety equipment for proper maintenance of the train.

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