The Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express was in news soon after its launch by the PM on September 30 as it crashed into a herd of buffaloes. Images of the damaged nose of the train were splashed all over social media. Politics crept in with some leaders of the Opposition tweeting in glee as they found an excuse to run down the train.

déjà vu, as the first Vande Bharat encountered a technical snag during its non-commercial inaugural trip on February 15, 2019. Similar negativity followed from politicians blaming the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the Indian Railways and the Centre. Though political considerations had forced the launch of commercial service of the train without the mandatory field trials, it does credit to the ICF that the train has performed impeccably for more than three years till an incident on September 7. But that is not the issue. That the train was damaged was news but more significant was its quick repair .

How significant is this issue of the train running into cattle? It is not unusual at all, as India has a large bovine population and cattle on the loose is common. With the brouhaha over slaughter of cows in recent years, the number of disowned cattle has increased, particularly in the North and West.

Right of way

Trains have a right of way on tracks and a driver is not supposed to stop because of a trespassing human/cattle. Whistle, yes, to alert the trespasser on the track but stop, no, barring some exceptions like crossing of wild animals in designated forest areas or an obstruction that can derail the train. If drivers were mandated to brake on sighting a moving obstruction of this type, trains would not run, only crawl.

The increasing menace of cattle has socio-economic dimensions. Farmer fields may be on either side of a track or home on one side and the field or grazing ground on the other. So, cattle on the track are common.

Non-elevated tracks in Europe for semi-high-speed, or above, are usually fenced but unfenced tracks are not uncommon. They do believe in public following the discipline of not trespassing and they do not have stray cattle which usually graze in fenced enclosures.

As for forest areas with wildlife, they have an elaborate system of fencing and even overhead crossing for animals on expressways.

Trainsets are new in the country and unlike a locomotive, a passenger coach is in front, just beyond the cab, and therefore safety of passengers has to be given greater thought. Unlike locomotives, however, the nose of a trainset cannot have an ugly cow-catcher, lest you kill its USP of aerodynamic profile and aesthetics. Its nose was designed using advanced Computational Flow Dynamics tool for aerodynamics and its front structure, which supports the FRP nose, is strong enough to withstand the impact of a cattle-hit without any danger to passengers. The FRP nose gets damaged and sacrificed and its sections can be changed easily. It is a small price to pay till the Railways is able to solve the problem of cattle menace.

The train is meant for 160 kmph speed for which fencing is a requirement and so a cattle-hit-proof design was unnecessary; if the infra has not kept pace with the development of the train, the fault does not lie in its design but the slow upgrade of matching infrastructure. In any case, ICF should study the design to modify it to make the nose sections more replacement-friendly.

As for the cattle menace, let this mishap act as a catalyst to expedite the sanctioned works for upgrade to 160 kmph speed on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah sections, which stipulate fencing.

In the short term, a campaign can be undertaken in areas prone to crossing of cattle to educate the rural folk about the perils of letting their cattle loose near railway tracks and also examine if any grade-separated pathway can be accessed by them for movement of their cattle.

The writer is a former GM, Indian Railways and leader of the initial Vande Bharat team

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