BENGALURU: This must truly rank as an unforgettable day for two highly experienced loco-pilots of South Western Railway Zone, R Surendran and V Ravichandran. The duo got the opportunity to steer South India’s first Vande Bharat train from KSR Railway station on Friday morning as well as a small chit-chat with Prime Minister Modi.
This being the inaugural run and a unique train, two Loco Pilots (LPs) were put on the job rather than an LP and an Assistant Loco Pilot, which is the norm. They were the only ones to clear the high-speed Psycho test in the Zone, a mandatory requirement to run high-speed trains.
In a quick chat with The New Indian Express at Jolarpettai station after they signed off for the day and LPs from Southern Railway took the steering wheel, they relived memories of the eventful day.
Surendran, who has worked in Railways for 32 years, said, "I can say it is the greatest day in my life. Just before we began our job today, the PM stepped into our cabin. It was only us both and him as this is a restricted area. We got up but he insisted we sit down saying you are going to steer the train and must not stand. He also asked us to introduce ourselves and shook hands with us. It is a very great honour for us.”
The LPs have substantial experience in driving fast trains like the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains. “We were trained in Ghaziabad for operating Train 18 and steered the Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat too. We also had a partial trial run of this train earlier this week,” he added.
Ravichandran, who joined Southern Railways before it was bifurcated into South Western Railway and has a total of 33 years of service, said, "It is definitely a great honour to be given this chance to steer the inaugural train, a really rare event. That too when the PM himself is flagging it off. I am really very happy about it.”
The train touched a maximum speed of 110 kmph today though it has been certified for 160 kmph since railway tracks along the route are not yet ready to handle such a high speed.