Train 18 to be flagged off on Dec 29: India's fastest will replace Shatabdi

New Delhi, Dec 20: Country's fastest train to have been manufactured by Indian Railways, Train 18, would be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 29, sources said.

The train would most likely be flagged off from the PM's constituency, Varanasi, reported PTI. It is the country's first engineless train that will replace Shatabdi trains and will run between Delhi and Varanasi.

Train 18, manufactured by ICF Chennai at a cost of Rs 100 crore, recently became India's fastest train by hitting speeds of over 180 kmph during trial-run on a section of the Delhi-Rajdhani route. The gleaming blue-nosed train 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.

These new MEMUs, which are capable of running at around 130 kilometres an hour, are also equipped with a CCTV surveillance system both inside the coaches and outside the driver's cab, a Talk Back system to enable passengers to talk to the driver in case of emergency and GPS-based passenger information and announcement system.

The train will have two executive compartments which will have 52 seats each and trailer coaches will have 78 seats each. The executive class will have rotating seats to match the direction of the train.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, impressed with the success of Train 18 during trials, has recently asked ICF to build four more similar rakes in the current financial year.