Railway Minister Reveals 7971 Train Stone Pelting Incidents Recorded Nationwide
Indian Railways recorded 7,971 stone-pelting incidents nationwide between 2023 and February 2025, causing extensive damage to trains including the Bhopal-Delhi Vande Bharat express. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw disclosed the figures in the Lok Sabha, noting that the attacks led to 4,549 arrests and forced zonal railways to spend Rs 5.79 crore on repairing damaged coaches.
The safety disclosures highlight a rising wave of security threats targeting the country's railway network. While railway policing historically focused on theft and vandalism, agencies like the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) are now tackling a wider spectrum of threats, ranging from random stone-pelting to deliberate sabotage.
Among the targeted services was the Bhopal-Delhi Vande Bharat. In one case, a 20-year-old individual was arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district after admitting he threw stones at the high-speed train simply "for fun."
Such incidents have repeatedly damaged premium services. Between 2019 and 2023, Vande Bharat trains alone sustained Rs 55.60 lakh in damages due to stone-pelting, resulting in 151 arrests, according to earlier details provided by Vaishnaw to Parliament. Other regions have also been impacted, including Kerala, where a Vande Bharat train running between Ernakulam and Bengaluru suffered window damage near Parali, and two coaches were hit in a separate incident in Angamaly.
Beyond stone-pelting, authorities are confronting more severe attempts at sabotage. In Rajasthan's Ajmer district, a goods train struck two cement blocks placed on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. Meanwhile, near Dohna station in Bareilly, train drivers spotted a jammed point mechanism stuffed with ballast on June 1, marking one of several foiled sabotage attempts in Uttar Pradesh.
Security agencies continue to investigate these incidents under relevant laws, including Section 150 of the Railways Act, as they attempt to secure critical infrastructure against ongoing threats.
