BackWatch: Train 18 clocks speed of 180 km/hour, becomes India’s fastest
Train 18 , country's first engine-less train, will replace the Shatabdis and will initially run between Delhi and Varanasi
-kWqE--621x414@LiveMint.jpg "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Train 18 in January, according to a media report. Photo: PTI")
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New Delhi: Train 18 has officially become the country’s fastest train at a sustained speed of 180 kilometers per hour (kmph) during a trial run. In a tweet, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, made it official that Train 18 had become India’s fastest train. “Need for Speed: Train 18 seen cruising at a sustained 180 km/hour, officially becoming the fastest train in India," Goyal tweeted.
The fully air-conditioned train was designed and built at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF),Chennai, over a period of 18 months and has been developed at a cost of ₹ 100 crore.
The country’s first engine-less train will replace the Shatabdis and will initially run between Delhi and Varanasi.
Train 18 services, the new Shatabdi Express, likely to start next month: 5 things to know
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Train 18 in January, according to a PTI report. At presently the Shatabdis run on over 20 routes connecting metros with important cities. Train 18 is expected to cut travel time by 15% as compared to the Shatabdi.
Train 18 will begin operations in January 2019 at a curtailed speed of 130 km/hour, an official told PTI.
The first trial run of Train 18 was conducted on the Bareilly-Moradabad section on a standard railway track in November and again between Kota and Sawai Madhopur earlier in December.
‘Zor Ka Jhatka Dheere Se Laga’: Travelling in Train 18 as it clocks over 180 km/hour
The gleaming blue-nosed train comes with many amenities for passengers — on-board WiFi, 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 will have two executive compartments that which will have 52 seats each and trailer coaches that will have 78 seats each. The executive class will have rotating seats to match the direction of the train.
With inputs from PTI
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