Chocolates to melt hearts of locals antagonistic to Train 18 hindustantimes.com

Counselling locals and distributing chocolates among slum children to dissuade them from stone-pelting, placing a “cattle guard” in front of the Vande Bharat train are among a slew of measure the Indian Railways has initiated to protect its flagship train from future damage, two senior officials familiar with the matter said. The move comes in the wake of a series of cattle strike and stone-pelting incidents, which caused significant damage to India’s first semi-high speed train, also known as Train 18. The engine-less train, which runs on electric traction, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15. It can reach a top speed of 180kmph.