India’s Train 18: Delhi-Varanasi will be the first route

New Delhi, Dec 20: Train 18, Indian Railways’ indigenously designed, first semi-high-speed, engine-less train will be flagged of by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29th December on Delhi-Varanasi route.

 

 

India’s Train 18 is manufactured and designed by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai under the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiatives over the span of 18 months. The train has been tested on speed up to 180 km/hours on the Delhi-Rajdhani route, in spite of this, operational speed will be 160 km/hours.

 

 

Coaches of the train have a white and blue exterior, and the interior has a modern state of the art design. Train 18 also has an underslung propulsion system and comes equipped with automatic doors with sliding footsteps.

 

 

The next-generation train also claims of an advanced level of passenger amenities like personalized reading lights, modular bio-vacuum toilets, cushioned luggage racks, as well as rotating seats in the executive class.

 

It is expected that the train will reduce travel time for railway passengers by around 15-20 per cent, a major step even before the completion of India’s bullet train project.

 

 

The current name of the train stems from the year of its manufacture, but the Railway Ministry is reportedly looking for a name-change in the future.

 

  

Train 18 is ultimately expected to replace India’s Shatabdi fleet, and the Railway Ministry has directed ICF Chennai to hasten the manufacturing of more units of the train. Two more sets of the train could be manufactured in the current financial year, with the number rising to eight in 2019-20.