In a major operational embarrassment for Indian Railways, the Sabarmati-Gurgaon Vande Bharat special (09401), operated by Western Railway late Sunday evening, ended up clocking the longest-ever journey for the premium train—nearly 1,400 km in 28 hours—but for all the wrong reasons.
For now, it stands as a case study in how small lapses in planning can derail the promise of India’s flagship semi-high-speed train.
Originally, the semi-high-speed train was scheduled to cover the 898 km Sabarmati–Ajmer–Jaipur–Gurgaon route in about 15 hours. However, it was stranded near Mehsana shortly after departure when officials discovered that the rake allotted lacked a high-reach pantograph. This component is mandatory for the high-rise overhead equipment (OHE) sections on that stretch—a classic case of the wrong train on the wrong route.
On Indian Railways, especially in the Western Railway zone (WR), freight corridors carry double-stack container trains. These trains require extra vertical clearance since standard overhead wires (OHE), generally about 5.5 meters above rail level, are too low for such tall trains. To accommodate them, high-rise OHE is installed where the contact wire height is raised up to 7.45 meters instead of the usual 5.5 meters. This setup allows double-stack container movement under electric traction without touching the wires.
The Vande Bharat train departed Sabarmati around 6 pm but has since been crawling across western and northern India, leaving passengers weary and frustrated.
A senior railway official admitted off the record that this was a basic technical mismatch that should have been checked before deployment. “Running a Vande Bharat on a high-rise OHE section without a high-reach pantograph was never possible,” the official added.
This unintended diversion has created history: no Vande Bharat rake has ever operated such a long distance in a single run. However, behind this unusual record lies passenger inconvenience, operational chaos, and questions of accountability.
Despite the massive disruption, no action has been announced against any officials responsible for the oversight. Passengers, meanwhile, bore the brunt of a journey nearly twice as long as advertised, undermining the very premise of the Vande Bharat as a fast, efficient alternative.
https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/sabarmati-gurgaon-vande-bharat-train-operated-by-western-railway-runs-1400-km-in-operational-blunder-23597496
