Dead Viper Found in Vande Bharat Seat in Kerala

INDIA: A passenger settling in for a family trip to Coimbatore found something unexpected waiting near his seat on the Ernakulam–Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express — a dead Russell’s viper, one of India’s most venomous snakes.

The snake was discovered in coach C6 around 2:30pm on Friday, Aug. 14, at Ernakulam Junction before the train’s departure, according to Janayugom. The passenger, travelling with his family, spotted the reptile near his seat and reported it through the Rail Madad portal, the railway’s official grievance and safety-reporting channel.

Don’t miss…Vande Bharat Carries India’s First Donor Heart by Train

Not the harmless variety

Unlike earlier snake sightings on Indian trains — including a 2022 case on the Thiruvananthapuram–Nizamuddin Express that turned out to be a harmless rat snake — this animal was identified as a Russell’s viper, a species responsible for a significant share of snakebite deaths in India. The snake was already dead when found, and the source material does not specify how or when it died, or how it came to be in the coach. Railway officials have ordered an investigation into the incident.

Part of a longer pattern on Vande Bharat services

The viper incident adds to a string of unusual disruptions reported on Vande Bharat trains in Kerala and elsewhere in recent years, including stone-pelting incidents, a battery-box fire on a Bhopal–Delhi service, and a lavatory fire extinguisher activation that filled a cabin with smoke on the Thiruvananthapuram–Kasaragod route. The announcement does not specify whether Friday’s train departed on schedule after the snake was removed, or whether the coach required additional inspection before continuing service.

News on railway transport, industry, and railway technologies from Railway Supply that you might have missed:

Don’t miss…Vande Bharat Sleeper for Vijayawada Division