A video has gone viral showing loco-pilots fighting over the right to operate the new Vande Bharat Express on the Agra-Udaipur route. The incident reportedly happened at Rajasthan's Gangapur City Junction last week.
As per local media reports, the brawl happened between the staff of Agra and Kota divisions on the inaugural day of the train. The altercation got physical with a loco pilot and his assistant getting assaulted. The guard room lock and the glass windowpane of the Express train were also damaged in the melee.
According to GRP Gangapur City police officials, a case has been registered against unidentified Railway personnel on the complaint of the guard. A probe is underway. The Railway Protection Force officials, who were present at the venue, did nothing to intervene in the fight and were instead recording the video, the report added.
The Vande Bharat train starts from the North-Western Railway Ajmer Division, passes through Kota Railway Division and then continues to Agra Railway Division. The altercation occurred after the drivers from Agra wanted to take over the train's operations. But the loco pilots from Kota who had been handling it refused.
The responsibility of staffing the train falls on three railway zones—the West Central Railway headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh; the North Western Railway based in Jaipur, Rajasthan; and the Northern Railway managed from New Delhi.
Loco-pilots who drive prestigious services like the Vande Bharat are better placed for promotions and the perks that come with it, reports said. Hence, the fight for the hot seat.
