Stone pelting incidents on trains in South Central Railway (SCR) zone sees 10x rise between '21-25; Vande Bharat trains among most affected
Statistics available with SCR show that from 37 cases in 2021, stone-pelting incidents shot to 359 in 2024. The attacks resulted in injuries to 62 passengers.
Between January 2021 and June 2025, railways recorded 1,059 incidents and apprehended 831 persons in the zone. In fact, in the last six months alone, the zone recorded 168 such incidents.
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The four Vande Bharat trains heading towards Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Bengaluru have been particularly affected, with 187 cases among all 250 passenger trains, accounting for most of these incidents.
That apart, stone-pelting incidents were also reported on mail/express, special trains, and superfast trains.
They have emerged as a serious security challenge, said SCR authorities. In several cases it was children playing near railway tracks who unintentionally pelted stones at passing trains. "Often times it is also people under the influence of alcohol who indulge in stone-pelting," said a senior railway official.
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More coaches for Hyd-Bengaluru Vande Bharat
The Kacheguda-Yesvantpur Vande Bharat Express train will now run with enhanced passenger carrying capacity. The train, which was earlier operating with eight coaches with a 530-passenger capacity, is being enhanced with a revised composition of 16 coaches with a 1,128-passenger capacity from July 10.
Since the introduction of the regular services, the train operated with more than 100% patronage consistently. Sandeep Mathur, general manager, South Central Railway, said that with the doubling of coaches, more rail passengers will now be able to avail themselves of Vande Bharat train services between the IT cities, i.e., Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
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