Sabarmati–Gurgaon Vande Bharat train logs 1,400 km record run amid operational lapse

Sabarmati–Gurgaon Vande Bharat train

In a major operational lapse, the Sabarmati-Gurgaon Vande Bharat Special train (09401), operated by Western Railway, recorded its longest journey in an operational blunder, covering nearly 1,400 km in 28 hours after departing late on October 5, Mid-Day reported.

This delay was an embarrassment for Indian Railways as it now stands as a case study in how small lapses in planning can derail the promise of India’s flagship semi-high-speed train.

The train, meant to cover the 898 km Sabarmati–Ajmer–Jaipur–Gurgaon route in 15 hours, was halted near Mehsana soon after departure when officials realised that the allotted rake lacked a high-reach pantograph — essential for the high-rise overhead equipment (OHE) on the route — effectively making it a case of the wrong train on the wrong track.

On Indian Railways — particularly in the Western Railway (WR) zone — freight corridors are designed to handle double-stack container trains, which require additional vertical clearance. Standard overhead equipment (OHE) wires, typically positioned about 5.5 metres above the rail level, are too low for these taller trains. To accommodate them, high-rise OHE systems are installed, raising the contact wire height to around 7.45 metres, enabling double-stack container movement under electric traction without risk of contact with the wires.

With no option for the train to continue on its scheduled route, railway officials hurriedly diverted it via Ahmedabad–Udaipur–Kota–Jaipur–Mathura — a considerably longer path. Departing Sabarmati around 6 pm, the train has since inched its way across western and northern India, leaving passengers exhausted and exasperated, the report added.

“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,” a senior railway official was quoted by Mid-Day as saying.

As per the report, the diversion has unintentionally created history as no Vande Bharat rake has ever covered such a long distance in a single run. Despite the major disruption, no action has yet been taken against officials responsible for the lapse. Passengers, meanwhile, endured a journey almost twice as long as originally planned.