New Delhi
A day after being flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s first semi-high speed train, Vande Bharat Express, ran into trouble early on Saturday while returning to Delhi from Varanasi.

Hit by twin snags “skidding of wheels” near Tundla and a “power breakdown” near Hathras Train 18, which aimed at reducing the travel time by six hours, was late by more than four hours.

However, despite the malfunction, there’s no change in its first commercial run scheduled for Sunday. “The tickets have been sold out. Glitches are being fixed,” a senior official said.

Northern Railway CPRO Deepak Kumar claimed the problem was caused by “skidding wheels” as the train ran over cattle, but those on board said it appeared to be a case of brake malfunctioning as before coming to a screeching halt, they heard some rattling in the last few coaches.

The first breakdown occurred 15 km from Tundla junction in UP around 6.30 am, where the train was stuck for over an hour. At 8.15 am, engineers fixed the snag and the train started moving at 10 kmph, which was increased to 40 kmph after some time. Later, the passengers were shifted to another Delhi-bound train at Hathras station.