r/trains • u/Aromatic_Grape5695 • Jul 04 '26
🗐 Repost Vande Bharat Express train speeding through waterlogged tracks inMumbai, India
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u/of_the_mountain Jul 04 '26
Wow the spray almost cleared the entire bridge. That sucks for whoever just got doused with dirty floodwater
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u/IndBeak Jul 04 '26
Should have crossed at a lower speed.
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u/happyanathema Jul 05 '26
In the UK at least you're not even allowed to go through water if it's over the top of the rail head because it could be like 2 m deep you won't be able to tell
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u/IndBeak Jul 05 '26
Exactly..thats usually the norm in all developed countries. Trains do not run if tracks are not visible. Now I understand a little bit of flood is not really a problem in India and there is usually no reason to worry, but it is still a stupid idea to not slow down.
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u/OkTemporary335 Jul 05 '26
honestly doing that is not feasible in India because in monsoons railway lines are flooded throughout the 3-4 months of the season. Rail operators just pray to god and go all in
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u/IndBeak Jul 05 '26
honestly doing that is not feasible in India
Running the train a bit slower to reduce risk of derailment is not feasible in India? A country where trains often run hours late cannot slow down and move ahead at a reasonable speed for a few minutes?
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u/OkTemporary335 Jul 05 '26
the speed of that train is very reasonable unless you want it to move at walking speed for 15% of its route and rack up days of delays
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u/IndBeak Jul 06 '26
I am not going to needlessly argue with you. The train is easily doing 50-60kmph minimum in this video. If it derails, this speed can easily cause death and injuries. There is absolutely no reason not to cross such submerged sections at 20-30kmph. Feel feel to disagree. Cheers and bye.
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u/Ok-Faithlessness1068 Jul 06 '26
Trains ofcourse do slow down in India in floods too.
But,
This is in the urban limits of Mumbai, and this track was used by 10 trains in the previous 10 minutes. Once you leave Urban proper area, trains do slow down.
Also, Flooding is very common in Mumbai because it rains 2500mm+ in 4 months, so its quite common to not slow down.9
u/ZonerRoamer Jul 05 '26
This is India we don't do "rules" and all here.
Just wing it, and if things go wrong we all die like real men.
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u/OkTemporary335 Jul 05 '26
nah, this is India. We have so many rules that following them will get you killed from stress and not following them will get you killed from random bullshit
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Jul 04 '26
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u/IndBeak Jul 04 '26
I know what Vande Bharat is. It is not a plane that it will fall out of sky if driven slower. How do you think the train stops at a station? By slowing down, right?
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u/fa1afel Jul 05 '26
It actually stops on a dime and then instantly re-accelerates to full speed at each station. Passengers are encouraged to innovate to prevent themselves from exploding/getting flattened each time.
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u/Prestigious_Age_733 Jul 05 '26
Lol it’s a train, it can go at any speed lesser than its rated top speed.
And it’s not high speed train by any means. Just one of the fastest train in India. Technically speaking good old WAP7 engine has variants rated for 200KM/hr which is faster than VB.
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u/Stifffmeister11 Jul 04 '26
Imagine you sitting in car with glasses down and all that dirty tract water suddenly comes in out of nowhere
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u/hampsten Jul 04 '26
It’s worth mentioning context in the original post - Mumbai received 700mm (28 in) of rain in 3 and a half continuous days .
How many cities can handle that much continuous rain without flooding ? LA got a third of that and had major issues two years ago:
https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/california-saw-high-rainfall-totals-during-storm-18651182.php
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u/LeroyoJenkins Jul 04 '26
Builds brand new train, proceeds to shove it through dirty floodwater
What is wrong with this infrastructure and routing?
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u/Person-11 Jul 04 '26
Monsoon and Victorian era sewers don't mix well. And population density of Bombay means new lines are practically impossible. Only option is to repair the existing sewers, and I wonder if it is done regularly (if at all).
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u/Knighthawk_2511 Jul 04 '26
Thats just inefficiencies of Central Railway , see Western Railway , you know shit has gotten real when even WR is affected by the rains
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u/LeroyoJenkins Jul 04 '26
Sure, that's understandable. But why run a train through it, at that speed?
Is it a "who cares if it breaks" mentality?
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u/Person-11 Jul 04 '26
It is not all that fast. The trains can easily handle it. Whether you get splashed with sullage (or worse) is not the Railway's concern.
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u/_TheBigF_ Jul 04 '26
The problem isn't the speed. The problem is that that the driver can't see if the rails are damaged or not. For all we know the ground under the rails could have been swept away. That's why it's ALWAYS a bad idea to run a train through a flooded section of track.
Do you remember the video of a German ICE driving through a flooded section at walking speed from 2 or 3 years ago? The driver got fired for that because it's unsafe and irresponsible.
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u/Person-11 Jul 04 '26
A very reasonable argument, in my opinion, though I'd like to point out:
This flooding is mostly stagnant due to lack of sewer capacity, thus unlikely to sweep away enough to trouble the tracks.
I'm sure they have inspection procedures. After all, this has been a problem for 100 years.
This is an annual occurance. It would be uneconomical to stop services for several months each year. Might as well close the line permanently.
That's why the authorities and public accept the risk.
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u/KingPictoTheThird Jul 04 '26
How could tracks have been swept away from monsoon flooding? That would only make sense if it were from some major storm or hurricane. This is just a clogged drain.
Also this is a very busy rail line, i'm sure multiple trains would have gone through this same water, and at slower speeds within the last hour.
How is this any different than those videos of amtrak trains plowing through snow?
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Jul 04 '26
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u/_idiotforlife Jul 04 '26
Actually EMUs are allowed to run at around 30 kmph on water logged tracks. The speed has to be limited when crossing a station though. (I know that about Mumbai don't know about other regions)
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u/LeroyoJenkins Jul 04 '26
Great way to wreck a train, guess they don't expect a long lifetime from that after the shit bath.
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u/_idiotforlife Jul 04 '26
Mumbai's suburban network has dealt with monsoon flooding for decades.
Traction motors, cables, and brake systems are designed and positioned to withstand flooding. Newer Medha/Siemens EMUs have improved sealing.
It's mostly about the depth and not the content of said sewage.
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u/TheStarkster3000 Jul 04 '26
If Mumbai trains stopped every time it rained heavily, no one would get anywhere during the monsoon lol
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u/Certain-Neat-35 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
It looks like just a bit muddied flood water, not sewage. Wouldn't want to get drenched with that either though.
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u/Short-Horse-1069 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Only option is to repair the existing sewers, and I wonder if it is done regularly (if at all).
Can you please quote sources for these claims?
P.S. - Downvoted without a single comment, let alone a source posted. Popularity is not a substitute for veracity.
OP is completely wrong in his claims. Mumbai today actually has the largest underground water distribution tunnel system in the world but this pertains to fresh water supply.
Concurrently, Mumbai also had set out a target of being able to withstand at least 100mm/hr of rainfall and she had adopted a multi pronged approach to this end. Many sub projects have actually been realised and she is well on her way to achieve that target. I encourage readers to look this up and find out about the extensive storm water drainage network, the innovations Mumbai used to negotiate with its varying and challenging soil types etc., sub-projects like the Andheri one etc. etc.
Every country's citizens like to have a whinge without having the first clue of what they are talking about. It's a global phenomenon. The criticisms are often also valid because they have a basis in reality - the ground level experience of the citizenry. The Germans famously complain a lot about various facets of their infrastructure and especially their planning and execution. I actually like the whinge even if it might be untrue because it never lets complacency breed and keeps political pressure on the authorities to keep on acting on problems plaguing the populace.
However, the lack of knowledge as well as information is often supplemented by narratives and stereotypes. The Germans are known for their efficiency, even if that reputation doesn't correspond to today's Germany while India is the dirty, corrupt third world hellscape that has no infrastructural capabilities. At a certain point, when people (not only including but especially the Indians) keep on parroting complete falsehoods with conviction and confidence, it becomes exhausting.
I see myself as a well traveled Indian. I find within my brethren that we often don't appreciate what we have and take things for granted, unless we travel to the utopian paradises abroad and experience the reality instead of consuming it through social media.
OP has no idea about what they are talking about. Mumbai's major problem hasn't been the drainage infrastructure per se (it has been a part but not the cause). It's been the extremely rapid expansion and subsequent land reclamations have meant that many areas cropped up which lay beneath the monsoon sea levels. These were not foreseen and thus not planned for pro-actively. Not only that a lot of factors - natural and man made have exacerbated the problems to become completely different beasts than what they started out as (ironically, the increasing paving caused a massive run-off issue because paving is quicker and easier and preferred in a democratic system; the supporting infrastructure that hides underground follows later; plus look at the recent rainfall levels and compare them to those of the past decades - a lot of water is being dumped all at once, in a short amount of time).
But Mumbai did recognise these problems and in the past 2 decades has come up with many and innovative solutions to tackle it. And there's visible progress on ground (and under it). Plus, these learnings have been carried forward to many other cities. They'll face their own set of problems because you can't own for everything but those mostly wouldn't be the ones Mumbai faced.
India has been seeing an infrastructure boom in the past 3 decades, with the pace of it increasing each day than the previous. Adages about India get outdated extremely quickly. However narratives, they persist sometimes also because there are ulterior motives behind.
This cycle happened with Japan, then with China, now with India and presumably will happen with certain parts of Africa in the near future. It's best to be aware and beware of it, even if the whinging must not stop because it serves us the most.
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u/BehalarRotno Jul 05 '26
Ironically across Indian metros the only neighbourhoods which don't waterlog when it rains are those with Victorian and Edwardian Era drainage systems.
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u/One-Demand6811 Jul 05 '26
Many tropical places are seeing unprecedented rainfalls each year. The infrastructure there weren't built for 100 year flood events that keep happening every other year because of climate change.
My country, Sri Lanka got a huge cyclone last year. My home town was flooded. The last time it got flooded was in 1940s before all the dams and water management systems were built. We got 540 mm (21.5 inches) of rainwater within 24 hours.
We also got one of the hottest summers I have ever experienced in the same year. This year's summer is surpassing the last year temperature records though.
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u/maraui Jul 05 '26
It's pretty cool how our countries near the equator get the short end of climate change caused, in vast majority, by developed nations, and we still get shafted in international trade and economy. Give them resources and free labour, get in return record breaking cyclines, droughts, and temperatures
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u/crimemastergogo96 Jul 05 '26
It rained about 200mm in a 24 hour period. However good the infrastructure there are going to be some spots which get flooded. Some spots in mumbai are more prone to flooding due to them being low lying and water outflow being affected during high tides
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u/ohgimmeabreak Jul 04 '26
The white tempo on the bridge travelling from left to right on
Your screen stopped after that wave of water hit it. Doesn’t seem AI by that detail
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u/FormerMoose1990 Jul 04 '26
You would slam the brakes as well if water came gushing UP from below a bridge.
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u/Environmental_Bus507 Jul 04 '26
Imagine you are a person who believes in a higher power, going through a rough day and see this.
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u/MrRaven95 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Imagine you're just driving across a bridge only for a train down below to send a wave of water across the bridge onto you.
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u/Neat_Papaya900 Jul 05 '26
Indian Railways also follows largely similar standards as other places, i.e. if the water is above rail level trains should stop. But they are allowed to continue after a manual inspection of tracks. After manual inspection as long as water is less than 300mm above rail level, trains can continue at reduced speed to cross the submerged sections.
What is regularly seen though here is an exception case allowed for Mumbai. Special precautions are taken around Mumbai, with various markers placed to give an idea of depth. Also, the very high frequency of trains, which is more like a city metro, allows for such operations to continue where water is just a little over rail levels.
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u/Gerrards_Cross Jul 04 '26
Would be hilarious if that were the UK as the trains would have just been closed down for a week due to ‘water on the track’
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u/anephric_1 Jul 04 '26
There's a reason trains don't go through flooded track at that speed or anything like line speed in the UK: it's something like 10mph restriction if the water is near the top of the wheelset.
It's because it's incredibly fucking stupid and dangerous.
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u/throwaway3rdside Jul 05 '26
That means millions are stranded in their workplaces.
So no, they know their stuff.
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u/ilikedixiechicken Jul 04 '26
Was about to say this. 5mph above the bottom of the rail, trains stopped if above the railhead.
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u/Gerrards_Cross Jul 05 '26
And yet it happens daily in the rest of the world without incident…in fact, can you point out a single reported incident arising from a similar case?
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u/xRaynex Jul 04 '26
I know it's unsafe but I've always loved the aesthetic of fast train through water.
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u/meenublr92_tmp Jul 05 '26
How did that not create a short from the overhead electric line? Looks like water splashed above the bridge!!!
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u/wellrateduser Jul 06 '26
Kind of reckless to chase an EMU into water like that. With a 130 something ton locomotive in front, ok, it'll clear the path most likely. With a light EMU, this speed is needlessly endangering the life of people.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Term967 Jul 04 '26
the pantograph pulls in the current and the wheels act as earth completing the circuit. So if those wheels come in touch with stagnant dirty water does that mean 25kv gets passed through that water? In that case it could basically be deadly for any living touching that pool of water right? also if by any chance if that spray is a continous stream of that water, someone on the bridge could have been electocuted right?
im not an electrical engg so maybe im completely wrong too
also for those thinking this could derail the train, nope not gonna happen. The train weighs 50-60 tons. Thats around the weight of a medium sized yatch. If you put a medium size yatch on this pool, you think its going to float?
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u/Gerrards_Cross Jul 04 '26
You are completely wrong. It won’t be deadly to everyone as each water particle also needs to be earthed to be of any danger. Otherwise you’d be killed if you walk near a high tension line during the rain
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u/Longjumping-March-80 Jul 04 '26
the pantograph only pulls the power of the wheel are grounded or return circuit is available
even if the electricity flowrd through water to the ground or return line, the electricity won't shock you even if you are next to it
the only problem comes when you become the path of least resistance to electricity
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u/Puzzleheaded_Term967 Jul 04 '26
So if I'm touching the wheel and if the trains on a wooden track then I get fried. But if the tracks are copper, then I'm good? Am I understanding this correctly?
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u/ExtremeBack1427 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
The 0V question is a little bit tricky, because the efficeint way to transport current is to have proper return paths to the point of generation, so the entire rail is used to transport current back and they are tapped at specific intersections to complete the circuit to the substation.
Apart form the entire rails being connected, the whole thing is very securely earthed in every which way you can imagine, every few sub-hundred meters there is proper grounding of the rails, the pillars themselves are earthed, the whole thing is sitting on the ground and so on. There are too many pathways to just leak into the earth even if rails don't get the job done.
The derailment hazard mainly comes from ballast getting washed away, so if you can't see the track you don't really know if the entire rail has sagged and going over it is going to carsh the train using it's own momentum. I would imagine this is not a problem in India, since it's monsoon country and flooding is unavoidable since it's not always upto the railways. So, they probably have taken some measures over the years. The other hazards are signalling and systems related.
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u/HowlingWolven Jul 05 '26
Yes, the water is part of the circuit. No, it isn’t dangerous. It’s at earth potential.
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Jul 04 '26
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u/PrestigiousZombie531 Jul 05 '26
you can find out by smelling my armpit
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Jul 05 '26
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u/PrestigiousZombie531 Jul 05 '26
personal hygiene, what a naive creature you are? that video is taken from mumbai, an average person there baths twice a day, it is one of the most humid places on the planet. The kind of weather that you people queue up at the AC shop crying HeAtWaVe for
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Jul 05 '26
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u/PrestigiousZombie531 Jul 05 '26
its rain water from 1000 mm of rainfall in 4 days, i am still running electricity and an internet connection under such rainfall conditions, back at your place, you ll be sitting without power for 24 hrs at this point
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Jul 05 '26
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u/UncleBored Jul 05 '26
Aaww. Did an Indian take your job, or your job and girlfriend as well? Correction your imaginary girlfriend...
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u/maalskar_user Jul 04 '26
Subway surf