Christmas may see the launch of India’s fastest engine-less Train 18; know more details inside

The country's first train, named 'Train 18', crossed the speed limit of 180 km per hour during the test on Sunday. According to reports, the Indian Railways can launch India’s fastest train on the day of Christmas – December 25, 2018. Besides, the train cover the route from New Delhi to Varanasi.

According to sources, the railway official intends to launch the train on the former PM Late Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary as a tribute to the great statesman of the country.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal shared a video along with a quote on Twitter. “Train 18 exceeds 180kmph during trial. The stability of water bottles at this speed is testament to the quality of workmanship and design of our engineers.”

The total input cost of the train is Rs 100 Cr. Thus, the fares are also expected to be higher than the normal fare. The launch date is a tentative plan as the fare are not yet decided.

The train will start from New Delhi station at 6 am, and is expected to reach Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s parliamentary constituency, at 2 pm.

For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 pm., from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30 pm.
The ICF will present four such trains in the future. Railway Board chairman Ashwini Lohani had given a green signal to train 18 on October 29 here. There will be 16 coaches and passenger capacity will be equal to Shatabdi Express.