Semi-high speed trains called Vande Bharat Express have become a huge hit among rail travelers in India. Vande Bharat Express trains now run on 8 routes in different states of India, all of them being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Among these 8 routes is the 622 km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, which is important for the Indian Railways. The route will serve as the inauguration of an upcoming bullet train project built in partnership with Japan. Before the advent of bullet trains, Vande Bharat has been serving as the preferred mode of transport for people traveling on this route.
However, this route of Vande Bharat Express has been in discussion for other reasons as well. The express mostly runs through vast open plains, passing through rural Gujarat and Maharashtra, resulting in several cattle run incidents, causing damage to the train. After several such incidents, the Indian Railways has now started constructing metal beam fencing along the 622-km stretch between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to prevent cattle from escaping.
Fencing #VandeBharat Routes started. pic.twitter.com/vENiAp3ej9
— Ashwini Vaishnav (@ashwinivaishnav) January 29, 2023
About Rs 245.26 crore will be spent on fencing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad road. The Railway Ministry on Sunday said that all the eight tenders have been awarded and the work is progressing at a fast pace. The work is expected to be completed by the end of May. The fencing will be of guard rails made of metal. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has also shared a video on Twitter to share updates on the construction work.
“The fence is very strong because it consists of two W-beams. A W-beam type stands for wide flanges, which are thick, which aid in resisting bending stresses. This type of fence is used on highways. and is carried out in expressways, especially at accident-prone areas to provide safety to vehicles as well as pedestrians,” the railways said.
Railway Ministry data shows that train losses due to cattle/human run-over incidents have increased this year as compared to last year. While 2,115 train loss cases were reported in FY2022, 2,650 were reported in just six months between April and October 2022.
with PTI inputs
