Train 18, India's fastest train, will begin operations in January 2019 at a curtailed speed of 130 kmph, sources told PTI on Thursday, 27 December.
The train will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29 December. The event will be held in PM Modi’s constituency Varanasi.
Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF) manufactured the train at a cost of Rs 100 crore.
Train 18 is India's fastest train, hitting a speed of over 180 kmph during a trial-run on a section of the Delhi-Rajdhani route.
It comes fitted with amenities at par with the best in the world – from on-board WiFi to a GPS-based passenger information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature according to occupancy and weather.
Train 18 does not have a separate locomotive engine like conventional trains. Instead, the first and last coaches will have a control cabin for the driver – and these are the propulsion units of the train, technically making it an ‘engineless’ train.
It will reduce the need for shunting locomotives or switching tracks to reverse the direction of the train, as there are control cabins on either end. Train 18, as it is called, is being termed ‘India’s fastest train.’ (Hey, Gatimaan Express, care to challenge that?)
Here are 8 reasons why this ‘engineless’ train is a big deal.
1. Train 18 will be a fully air-conditioned train. For the moment, it only has chair car coaches.
2. There are 16 coaches on the train, with the first and last coaches connecting to the pantograph. These are the ‘engines’ of the train, although they form an integral part of the train set.
3. About 14 coaches will be non-executive chair cars that can seat 78 people in 3+2 configuration, while two premium chair cars will have a 2+2 configuration.
4. The train will have a WiFi connection available to the passengers. It will also have CCTV cameras installed in the train. The executive coaches feature seats that can turn 180 degrees, so that passengers always face the direction of travel.
5. The turnaround time will be much shorter with this train as it has a cab on either side. Therefore, there is no need to change the position of the locomotive engine around in a shunting yard.
6. The train is fitted with aircraft-style bio toilets, which means no waste will be spilled on the tracks. This will ensure cleaner railway lines and better hygiene along its route.
7. Being a fully air-conditioned train, it will also come with automatic doors and steps that deploy according to the height of the platform. This will ensure that people don’t jump out of moving trains. The train won’t move until all the doors are shut, just like metro coaches.
8. The train is fitted with fire-resistance fibre composites to provide safety to the passengers.
According to the tentative plan, the train will start from New Delhi station at 6 am and is expected to reach Varanasi at 2 pm, reported PTI. For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 pm from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30 pm on the same day. In 2019, the train will start replacing the existing fleet of Shatabdi Express, reported IANS.
(With inputs from PTI, IANS.)
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