New Delhi: India’s first engine-less train, Train 18, was tested in the Moradabad-Rampur section on Sunday. During the trail run, the train was made to run at different speeds. According to Indian Railways, the train was made to run at three different speeds of 30 kilometers per hour (Km/hr), 50 Km/hr and 60 km/hr. The maximum speed of Train 18 is 220 Km/hr.
5 things to know about India’s first engineless train
1. Train 18 has the potential to travel up to a speed of 160 kmph, as against 130 kmph for Shatabdis, and will result in travel time being reduced by around 15% once tracks are fitted to suit.
2. Train 18, the Rs 100 crore train, was developed by Chennai Integral Coach Factory in 18 months.
3. Like Metro coaches, the doors of Train 18 will open only after it stops.
The speed trial of the revolutionary Train 18 was conducted successfully on the Moradabad-Bareilly route, inching one step closer to full operationality. The train's introduction is a significant step towards modernisation of Railways. pic.twitter.com/BFYax3yOje
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) November 20, 2018
4. 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.
5.Train 18 has diffused lighting, an on-board infotainment system with Wi-Fi, vacuum toilets and sliding doors, besides a GPS-based passenger information system. The footstep in a coach’s doorway slides outward when the train stops at a station to help passengers alight safely with comfort.
On 29 October, the indigenously developed high-tech, energy-efficient, self-propelled train was flagged off by railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani.
Now, the railways will turn its focus on another project - Train 20 - the next generation aluminium-bodied sleeper class trains that will replace the Rajdhani Express trains on the network and is expected to be rolled out by 2020.