Railway Budget 2019 expectations: Indian Railways, which has seen many major upgradations this year saw the manufacturing of the much awaited engine-less self-propelled Train 18, which is all set to replace the Shatabdi Express trains soon. Today, Union Finance and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who will present the Railway Budget 2019 as part of the main Union Budget 2019 speech in the parliament is most likely to make announcements about Train 18. It is being expected that this year’s Railway Budget 2019 will highlight the ‘Make in India’ Train 18, now called the Vande Bharat Express and showcase it as the future of railway travel in India. Train 18 is India’s first semi-high speed train equipped with world-class passenger amenities. The train has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai at a cost of Rs 97 crore.
Also Read: Railway Budget 2019 Live: Piyush Goyal to focus on safety, faster trains, passenger-friendly steps in speech
The new Train 18 is scheduled to travel between New Delhi and Varanasi and will take around 8 hours to complete the journey. Recently, Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry announced the new name for Train 18- Vande Bharat Express. According to a press release, which was issued by the Railway Ministry last month, Vande Bharat Express is the next major leap for the national transporter, since the launch of Rajdhani Express trains, in terms of speed and convenience. The new train set has been manufactured in just 18 months by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.
The Vande Bharat Express will consist of 16 coaches with Chair Car type configuration with 14 Chair Car coaches and 2 Executive Class Chair Car coaches. The ‘Make in India’ train has been provided with ‘State of the Art’ passenger amenities such as on-board wifi entertainment, CCTV cameras, bio-vacuum toilets, GPS based passenger information system, rotating chairs in executive class etc. In addition to these features, the Vande Bharat Express will also have the provision of Divyang-friendly facilities.