Ahmedabad: Indian Railways has transported a donor heart by Vande Bharat Express for the second time in two days, carrying the organ from Ankleshwar to Ahmedabad on Sunday in another time-critical operation to support a heart transplant, officials said on Sunday.
The donor heart was transported on Train No. 20901 Mumbai Central–Gandhinagar Capital Vande Bharat Express on August 2 after being retrieved from Jayaben Modi Multi Speciality Hospital in Ankleshwar.
The heart was destined for transplantation at the U.N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre in Ahmedabad.
For the operation, the Vande Bharat Express was given a special halt at Ankleshwar railway station for the first time, allowing the organ to be loaded safely into Coach E-01 without delay.
After the train reached Ahmedabad, railway commercial staff, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Gujarat Police created a green corridor from Platform 1 to ensure the heart was transported to U.N. Mehta Hospital in the shortest possible time.
According to the Western Railway, the transplant will be carried out by the specialist medical team at the U.N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre.
The latest operation follows another landmark donor heart transport completed just two days earlier, when a living heart was carried from Surat to Ahmedabad on the same Vande Bharat service.
Railway and medical authorities described that mission as the “first transport of a donor heart by train in India”, with the organ reaching Ahmedabad in about two hours despite heavy rain and flood-like conditions in parts of Gujarat.
The operation demonstrated the potential of high-speed rail to support time-sensitive organ transplantation.
Heart transplantation requires donor organs to reach recipients within a strictly limited time window to preserve viability.
Railway officials said the speed and punctuality of the Vande Bharat Express are enabling rapid transportation of donor organs while reducing delays that could affect transplant outcomes.
Western Railway said it coordinated closely with the hospitals involved, state police, medical teams and railway officials to ensure Sunday’s operation was completed smoothly.
In a statement, the railway said: “Indian Railways once again demonstrated its commitment to serving humanity and saving lives by playing an important role in the rapid transportation of a living heart through the Vande Bharat Express.”
“The successful movement of donor hearts on consecutive occasions shows that the railway’s modern, high-speed and time-bound services are extending beyond passenger transport to support emergency medical care,” officials noted.
Western Railway also said that it remained committed to providing every possible assistance for similar humanitarian and life-saving operations in the future.
(IANS)
