Thiruvananthapuram: The much-touted Vande Bharat Express is claimed to be India's fastest train. The first of this premium semi-high-speed train allotted for Kerala is reportedly struggling to reach railway stations at the scheduled time since it commenced service between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod less than a week ago.

The trip charts show a delay of up to 20 minutes at stops between Kottayam and Kannur. Railway authorities said the reason for the delay was due to the speed limit imposed owing to the track renewal work underway at different places.

As per schedule, Vande Bharat which starts from Thiruvananthapuram at 5.20 am reaches Kollam at 6.07 am. However, on Monday, the train was delayed by three minutes. It reached Kottayam three minutes late.

There was a 12-minute delay as Vande Bharat pulled into Ernakulam North Station at 8.29 am. The train reached 13 minutes late at Thrissur at 9.35 am while its scheduled arrival time is 9.22 am.

Though it managed to reduce the delay to seven minutes between Thrissur and Shoranur, it reached Kozhikode 11 minutes late. The delay between Kozhikode and Kannur rose to 20 minutes. But the train managed to reach Kasaragod on time at 1.25 pm, authorities said.

All trains slow down between Ernakulam North and the Ernakulam maintenance yard which is a crossover point where one rail line joins another. The speed limit on the stretch is 15 kmph. In addition, the speed limit goes down to 15 kmph on the stretch from the Shoranur yard where there are platforms from which loop lines diverge from the main railway line. These factors are also taken into account while estimating the train’s running time between the starting station and the destination. Railway sources said the schedule was being adhered to without fail.