More than 1,500 cases of stone pelting on moving trains were recorded across the country in 2022 and over 400 people arrested for the offence, the Railways said on Wednesday. Vande Bharat trains have also suffered damage due to stone pelting.
“During the year 1,503 cases of stone pelting on moving trains were registered by RPF followed by the arrest of 488 persons. Several awareness drives are being made by RPF using different means to educate residents near railway tracks. In this drive more than 100 persons carrying inflammable/crackers in trains were also arrested,” the Railways said in a statement highlighting the achievements of the RPF across the year.
While incidents of stone pelting on other trains remain largely unreported, cases of stone pelting on the indigenously manufactured Vande Bharat have found wide publicity. In fact, soon after the first such train was launched it was attacked with stones in Tundla in Uttar Pradesh. It also faced stone pelters near Sadar here during which a windowpane of a coach was damaged when it left Delhi’s Sakurbasti to reach New Delhi Railway Station to begin its trial run to Allahabad.
Similarly, during another trial run between Delhi and Agra on December 20, 2018, stones were hurled at the train as well in Mathura district. The RPF has also been roped in by the Railways to counsel locals and the force has tried distributing chocolates and gifts to children living in slums to deter them from throwing stones at the semi-high-speed train.
Soon after its launch, the New Jalpaiguri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express fell prey to stone pelters.Earlier this month, coaches of the Vande Bharat train were pelted with stones at the Visakhapatnam railway station in Kancharapalem area. Several windows of the train were shattered.
