India rail minister mocked for train video
12th February 2019
The man in charge of India's railways has been mocked for sharing a video of a "high-speed" train that turned out to be a time-lapse of a slower train.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Coal, tweeted that the train was "zooming past at lightning speed".
Trainspotter Abhishek Jaiswal then replied with the original footage, which he said he filmed in December for his railway-themed YouTube channel.
In Mr Jaiswal's clip, the same train travels at a much slower speed.
In the video posted on his official Twitter account, Mr Goyal says the video shows "India's first semi-high speed train built under 'Make in India' initiative, Vande Bharat Express".
Skip Twitter post by @PiyushGoyal
It’s a bird...It’s a plane...Watch India’s first semi-high speed train built under ‘Make in India’ initiative, Vande Bharat Express zooming past at lightening speed. pic.twitter.com/KbbaojAdjO— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 10, 2019
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As India's railways minister, he is in charge of the fourth-largest rail network in the world.
The train, Train 18, is indeed India's fastest train to date. It will travel between the capital Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 130km/h (80mph).
But in response, Mr Jaiswal tweeted a link to his version of the clip, . In that, the same train is significantly slower.
Mr Jaiswal says the clip was filmed at Asaoti station in the northern state of Haryana.
Skip Twitter post by @abhie_jaiswal
This is my video and this is forwarded by 2x speed to the original vdo. https://t.co/mqY95AwlORwhoever handling your account is really a dump.— Abhishek Jaiswal ?? (@abhie_jaiswal) February 10, 2019
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Indian news site Alt News
Since the exchange, people have been mocking the minister online with their own videos of "high-speed trains".
Skip Twitter post by @manchibaba
India first ever #BulletTrain. History in the making. Wow @PiyushGoyal@PMOIndia#Vadematramexpress#IncredibleIndiaTT / Tc was also present fr checking in the last coach.Ticket prices werw rocket high, still No vacant seats@zoo_bear@Sunil_Congressi @RoflGandhi_ @RoshanKrRai pic.twitter.com/hmCTinn5d9— Manchibaba ( जनेऊ धारी ) ? (@manchibaba) February 10, 2019
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Meanwhile, some offered their own editing expertise.
Skip Twitter post by @zoo_bear
Sir, Delete that and repost this instead ??? pic.twitter.com/i7O3VJX6FQ— Zoo Bear (@zoo_bear) February 10, 2019
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Mr Goyal has yet to respond to the claims. However, he has continued to post videos of trains on his social media.
Source: bbc.com