Train 18 will cover the 750 kilometres distance between Delhi and Varanasi in a record 8 hours time, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said. Indian Railways’ first engine-less semi-high speed train is expected to be put into service soon. According to Goyal, Train 18 will be “one-and-half” times faster than the fastest train on the Delhi-Varanasi route. At present an Indian Railways train journey between the two cities takes around 11.30 hours. But Train 18, with its operational speed of 160 kmph, will be able to cover the distance in just 8 hours! With trials for the engine-less train complete in just 2 months, Train 18 is expected to be flagged off soon by PM Narendra Modi.
Train 18 is likely to stop at Kanpur and Allahabad (now Prayagraj) speeding along the Delhi-Varanasi route at 160 kmph. Recently, a window of the train was damaged by miscreants who threw stones at it. To avoid such incidents, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is sensitising people through campaigns. The self-propelled Train 18 has also become Indian Railways’ fastest, breaching the 180 kmph mark during its trials by RDSO.
Manufactured by ICF Chennai, Train 18 is a ‘Make in India’ initiative that promises faster and more comfortable train travel for passengers. Some of the salient features of the engine-less Train 18 are; automatic entry/exit doors with sliding footsteps, comfortable European-style seats, rotating seats in the Executive class, aircraft-like diffused LED lighting, sealed gangways for dust-free environment and easy movement of passengers, on-board WiFi, CCTV surveillance, smoke detectors, disabled-friendly bathrooms and wheelchair parking spaces, car-like push-forward reclining seats and modular bio-vacuum toilets.
Watch video! Train 18 is world-class all the way!
ICF Chennai has been asked to manufacture two more Train 18-type train sets in the current financial year. With faster acceptation and deceleration and less turnaround time, Indian Railways passengers can look forward to a better travel experience in Train 18.