# Vande Bharat hot-axle smoke delays train by four hours 2026-09-24T10:12:55+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Passengers on the Narsapur-Chennai Vande Bharat Express (20678) panicked when smoke was seen from a coach at Vijayawada station on Wednesday. All passengers were safely evacuated. Railway officials said a hot axle was detected in the C4 coach. Technical teams attended to the coach. Drinking water, food and waiting facilities were provided. A help desk was set up, and an alternative train was arranged. Passengers who did not wish to continue received fare refunds. The train was delayed by nearly four hours. Passengers were later moved to the replacement train, which left Vijayawada safely. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Hot axle failures are relatively rare on Vande Bharat trainsets, which use distributed traction that should reduce axle stress compared with locomotive-hauled rakes. The Indian Railways' standard procedure after a hot-axle alarm is to isolate the affected coach and run the train at restricted speed to the nearest facility, full replacement of a coach is unusual. The four-hour delay suggests the alarm was serious enough to warrant offloading all passengers, likely because on-board diagnostics detected a temperature rise beyond the threshold for safe limping. The South Coast Railway zone will now submit a failure report to the Railway Board, which typically mandates a root-cause analysis within 72 hours. The key figure to watch is whether this incident triggers a safety advisory for the entire Vande Bharat fleet. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: Chennai, Indian Railways, South Coast Railway, Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/vande-bharat-hot-axle-smoke-delays-train-by-four-hours/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/vande-bharat-hot-axle-smoke-delays-train-by-four-hours/#story-in-brief