The Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express rammed into cattle near Atul railway station in Gujarat on Saturday morning which damaged its front panel, an official said.

This was the third such incident since the Vande Bharat train service started on this route from September 30.

The train halted for 15 minutes after hitting a bull that had strayed on the track around 8.20 am but all the passengers were safe, said Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer of Western Railway.

The train's front panel was damaged and the underbelly equipment of its first coach was also dented, he said."There is no damage to the train, except to the Nose Cone Cover of the front coach, that is the driver's coach. The train is running smoothly," Thakur added.

"The damaged panel will be replaced once the train reaches Mumbai," he said.

A portion of the damaged nose of the Vande Bharat Express train, running between Mumbai Central and Gandhinagar, after a collision with cattle, in Mumbai, Saturday, October 29 2022. PTI image

On October 6, the train, which has a maximum speed of 130 kmph, ran over four buffaloes between Vatva and Maninagar stations in Gujarat on its way to Gandhinagar from Mumbai. Its nose panel had to be replaced overnight.

The next day (October 7), the train hit a cow near Anand in Gujarat while on its way to Mumbai.

The indigenously designed and manufactured semi-high speed train, a third under the Vande Bharat series, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30.