Video of Vande Bharat train being transported by an electric engine is shared with misleading claims.
Claim
Rating
Explanation
A video purportedly showing the Vande Bharat train being propelled by the engine of a regular electric train engine is widely circulated on social media platforms. This video is shared to mock Modi and the government quoting the ‘high speed’ nature of the Vande Bharat train.
पीछले 9 सालों के झूठ को खींच कर ले जाता 70 सालों का इतिहास👇 pic.twitter.com/WwdCIj7cQL
— Krishna Allavaru (@Allavaru) June 29, 2023
Krishna Allavaru, Joint Secretary of the All Indian Congress Committee, also shared the video in a ridiculing tone. Some of the posts with such a claim can be seen here, here, and here.
https://twitter.com/shristichaterj1/status/1674340916403007488?s=46&t=kIszbQH_arRSG8kPbuGeZw
What is the truth?
When watching the video closely we found an Instagram Id ‘railwala_18’. When searching for the profile, the viral video is found posted on June 22 and is seen pinned as of this writing. The video is captioned ‘WAG9 leading Brand New 16 Coacher VBRake towards Patna’.
View this post on Instagram
We also found East Central Railway Twitter account responding to two of the posts carrying viral videos. One such reply says ‘Empty Coaching rake going for commissioning’.
Empty Coaching rake going for commissioning
— East Central Railway (@ECRlyHJP) June 29, 2023
And the other mentioned ‘There is an old video of the empty rake of the Vande Bharat train being brought for trial run and hundreds of special trains are being operated by the Railways in view of the demand of the passengers.’
वंदे भारत ट्रेन के खाली रेक को ट्रायल रन हेतु लाए जाने का पुराना वीडियो है एवं यात्रियों की मांग को देखते हुए रेलवे द्वारा सैकड़ों स्पेशल ट्रेनों का परिचालन किया जा रहा है ।
— East Central Railway (@ECRlyHJP) July 1, 2023
Hindustan Times reported about the viral video and quoted the above tweet by Railways. The viral video of an electric engine pulling a Vande Bharat is a routine process until a train is commissioned. It further stated that Jaiswal shot this video on June 22 near Uttar Pradesh’s Sakaldiha railway station.
He mentioned in a video on his Instagram page ‘railwala_18’ that the Vande Bharat train was being taken from Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory to Patna. No crew members were present in the Vande Bharat, therefore it was being pulled by a WAG-9 class engine. When searching for Patna Vande Bharat train we found that the first service was on 27, June 2023. This clarifies that the Vande Bharat train was transported to Patna station on June 22 for its launch on June 27.
According to the railways, when the train is initially added to the tracks, it is pulled by another engine until its route is determined. Only after the announcement of the route, a train is run by its loco pilot and crew members. In addition, a driver who is familiar with the designated route operates the train during these trials, reported Hindustan Times.
Ferry ride from factory to inauguration station 🤦🤦. In November 2018 this is how first ever Train 18 left Chennai. https://t.co/rvEimVSesD https://t.co/7SWGUgdEfs pic.twitter.com/4NIDJ69uaB
— VOMMspotter (@VinTN) June 29, 2023
We found another Twitter user named VOMMspotter quoting a post carrying the viral video. He tweeted another video in response to show that it is a ferry ride from the factory to inauguration station. He also quoted a link to his Youtube video mentioning that, in November 2018 that is how first ever Train 18 left Chennai.
Conclusion
It is found that the video of the Vande Bharat train being pulled by an electric engine is a routine process until a train is commissioned. This viral video is of a Vande Bharat train being taken to Patna from Chennai’s integral coach factory for its launch.
