Vijayawada: Alternative train arranged as Vande Bharat cancelled

Vijayawada : The Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express couldn’t be operated on Thursday due to a technical snag. SCR organised a special train with conventional coaches for meeting the demand of passengers.

Nearly 100 per cent occupancy was recorded in Train No 20834 Secunderabad- Visakhapatnam, stated the SC Railway in a press release on Thursday.

The Railways stated that an exceptional situation prevailed due to a technical snag in Visakhapatnam- Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express which led to operational exigency and inability in running the regular train service. South Central Railway immediately swung into action and undertook swift measures to replace the Vande Bharat rake with a conventional rake within a short time period on Thursday so as to ensure that the travel demand of the rail passengers was met.

The decision was taken by the Railway administration to run the scheduled train service with conventional AC coaches to accommodate all the passengers who had made their reservation by the Vande Bharat Express.

The passengers who made reservations by Train No 20834 (Secunderabad to Visakhapatnam) Vande Bharat Express were promptly informed about the change in train formation through text messages. These passengers were given a choice of either boarding the special train with normal fare (thereby getting a refund of the difference in fare) or cancelling their tickets (thereby getting a 100 percent refund).

Almost all the passengers opted to travel by the special train, with only 24 passengers opting to cancel their tickets. However, some passengers, who wished to travel by Vande Bharat train were disappointed with the sudden cancellation of the train.