Free ride for relatives of top officials on Vande Bharat, windows closed with curtain to avoid public eye; shifted to VIP room when it gets noticed

KASARGOD: A major security lapse occurred during the trial run of Vande Bharat Express. As of now, only Railway officials are allowed to travel on the train, but the issue became controversial as relatives of top officials travelled on Vande Bharat. It is reported that a woman and a baby was inside the train. Some people who boarded on the train from Ernakulam station sat on C12 coach and the window of the coach was covered with curtain to prevent media persons from seeing them. Although RPF officers told them to get off at Kozhikode, they refused. They got off at Kasaragod when they came to know that journalists have noticed them. They were shifted to VIP room and returned on Bhavnagar-Kochuveli train.

Apart from this, Rajmohan Unnithan MP meeting media persons inside C1 coach of Vande Bharat in Kasaragod, has become controversial. He spoke to the media for about ten minutes. MP said that Vande Bharat is not the ancestral property of BJP and that they are trying to gain political advantage by announcing it. He was accompanied by MLAs NI Nellikunnu and AKM Asharaf.

In the second trial held yesterday, the Vande Bharat train reached Kannur 17 minutes early. The time taken was 6 hours and 53 minutes. In the first trial it was 7.10 hours. It returned from Thiruvananthapuram Central at 5.20 am on Wednesday and reached Kasaragod at 1.10 pm. It didn’t stop at Thirur in the second trial.