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- It is India’s first indigenously built engineless semi-high speed train. Earlier, it was known by the name Train 18 (because it was built in a short span of 18 months).
Vande Bharat Express
- It is India’s first indigenously built engineless semi-high speed train. Earlier, it was known by the name Train 18.
- It runs between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160 kmph.
- It has been built by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, in a record time of 20 months.
- The train is a 100% ‘Make in India’ project and is claimed to be built at half the cost of a similar train set that is imported.
- It is energy-efficient as its coaches will be fitted with LED lights. Coaches will have automatic doors and retractable footsteps.
- It will be inter-connected with fully sealed gangways along with a GPS-based Passenger Information System. It is provided with Bio toilets.
Details
- Train 18 had propelled India into the exclusive club of about a half a dozen countries in the world that have the capability to turn out a brand new design of a high-speed/semi-high-speed train set in such a short time.
- The Prime Minister had flagged off the inaugural run of the Train 18 as ‘Vande Bharat Express’ in Varanasi.
- The train did provide trouble-free performance for six months.
- Unfortunately, perhaps it was the outstanding success of the Train 18 project that proved to be its undoing.
Source: The Hindu
