Fact-Check: Image of Vande Bharat Express With a Crash Guard Is Edited

The original photo does not show the crash guard in front of the train.

Fact-check: The photo was photoshopped to add the guard on Vande Bharat Express.

(Photo: The Quint)

Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) social media convener Y Sathish Reddy shared a collage of two images of Vande Bharat Express.

• The first image showed a damaged train.

• The second image showed the train with a crash guard attached to its nose.

What did the claim say?: The collage tried to take a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by claiming that attaching a guard on the front of the train was the ruling party's solution to prevent more crashes with the cattle.

• Many social media users shared this photo with a claim that says, "100 problems, one solution".

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

What is the truth?: This photo with a guard attached to the train is edited. The original image does not show any such guard on the train. 

How did we find out the real image?: On conducting a reverse image search, we found the original image of a repaired Vande Bharat Express in an article by The Hindu.

• The article from 7 October 2022 stated that the damaged nose cone of the Vande Bharat Express train had been replaced at the Coach Care Centre in Mumbai Central.

• It also stated that the front portion of the train got damaged after it hit a herd of buffaloes on 6 October.

• A comparison between the viral image and the original image confirms that the guard over the train is edited.

The image was edited to add the guard.

(Source: The Quint)

• We also found both images on photo archives of Press Trust of India (PTI).

Vande Bharat Express' images on PTI.

(Source: PTI)

What about the damage in the first picture?: According to The Hindu's article, Vande Bharat Express was hit by a herd of buffaloes.

• The incident happened between Kanjari and Anand stations in Gujarat.

• Four buffaloes were killed during the collision.

Clearly, an altered image showing a crash guard on Vande Bharat Express' is going viral.

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