India's first engineless train, Vande Bharat Express will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15 from the New Delhi Railway station. As reported by a senior official of the ministry to PTI.
Train 18 was recently named Vande Bharat Express by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. It has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. Interestingly, it has become India's fastest train by hitting speeds of over 180 kmph during a trial run on a section of the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani route.
According to the official, "The PM will flag off the train at 10 am on February 15 and there will be a function in which he will give a speech as well. It's a matter of great pride for us as this is the Railways' first indigenous train."
The train will have 16-coach and will run between Delhi and Varanasi. It will eventually replace the 30-year-old Shatabdi Express.
Features of Train 18:
- It is India’s first engineless train.
- It became India's fastest train by hitting speeds of over 180 kmph.
- Train 18 is set to replace Shatabdi trains.
- The train is made under the government's Make in India project.
- It is fully air-conditioned and will have two executive chair cars.
- Train 18 is a blue-nosed train and is fitted with the amenities that are best in the world.
- It has Wi-Fi, GPS-based passenger information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting and mobile charging points.
- It has climate control system that adjusts the temperature according to occupancy and weather.
