A video of two women Traveling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) is viral online with the false claim that they are loco pilots of India's Vande Bharat Express.
BOOM found that the claims are false and both the women are TTEs with the Indian Railways, not loco pilots.
The video shows the two women walking on a railway platform towards a train with Bollywood music playing in the background.
A caption on Facebook reads, "Vande Bharat Train Loco Pilots Crew... Could you have ever imagined this amazing scene ? From the coal fired engine drivers to this airline style engine crew.. The new Bharat. Incredible Bharat."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the women in the photo are Shijina Rajan and Diana Selvan, who work as TTEs in the Indian Railways.
Using reverse image search, we were able to find the same video uploaded on Instagram on September 24 by a Shijina Rajan (@travelling_tte).
Rajan's bio mentions that she is a TTE with the Indian Railways and her profile carries several videos and photos of her experience at the job. See here and here.
We also found this YouTube video featuring both Shijina Rajan and the second TTE uploaded on April 25, 2023 with the title 'Athlete TTEs of Vande Bharat' by a channel called 'Tech Travel Eat Shorts'
(Original text in Malayalam: "വന്ദേഭാരതിലെ അത്ലറ്റുകളായ TTE മാർ")
The person shooting the video introduces the women as TTEs and the second woman from the viral video mentions her name as Diana. The YouTuber then jokingly adds that the Indian Railways hired former sportspersons as TTEs in the Vande Bharat Express since it is a fast running train.
Below is a comparison between the TTEs in the viral video's thumbnail and the video from YouTube:
The viral video's thumbnail also shows 'Trivandrum Division' written on the lanyards of the TTEs.
Taking a hint from this and the YouTube video, we ran a search for 'Diana TTE Trivandrum' and found this story published by Kerala Kamudi on April 26, 2023 with the title 'First day of Vande Bharat brings another fame for athlete Padmini Thomas'. The feature image shows Diana with Padmini Thomas, Indian athlete and former president of Kerala State Sports Council.
The article mentions how Padmini Thomas was part of the Vande Bharat Express' initial run in Kerala. It also mentions Diana's full name, Diana John Selvan, and reveals that she is the daughter of Padmini Thomas and late Indian athlete John Selvan.
According to the story, Diana Selvan, after retiring as an athlete, joined the Indian Railways as a TTE six years ago.
