The Train 18 can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph. Presently, it runs between Delhi to Varanasi in 9 hours and 45 minutes, including stoppages at Kanpur and Allahabad

First look! India's first semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express
Train 18, Vander Bharat Express. Pic/Twitter Piyush Goyal

The Vande Bharat Express, commonly known as Train 18, India's first train-set, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. While the chair car ticket tickets for Vande Bharat Express or Train 18 will cost Rs. 1,760 and the executive class fare will be Rs. 3,310, the tickets can be booked online.

Here's the first look of Train 18:

Congratulations! Finally, the first run of India's first train-set, Train 18 now named Vande Bharat, flagged off by Prime Minister @narendramodi this morning as clicked by @Shashankrao06 from inside the train @sureshpprabhu @PiyushGoyal @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/7EKrYdNGfd

— Rajendra B. Aklekar (@rajtoday) February 15, 2019

Super! And here's India's first train-set Train 18 Vande Bharat on a high! Enjoy the ride!!! pic.twitter.com/SShUa8XizE

— Rajendra B. Aklekar (@rajtoday) February 15, 2019

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— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 14, 2019

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Railway Board team were also on board the train on its inaugural journey. "I am grateful to designers and engineers behind Vande Bharat Express which will take its first trip from Delhi to Varanasi today. With our sincerity and hard work in the last 4.5 years we have tried to improve railways," the Prime Minister said.

The train can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph. Presently, it runs between Delhi to Varanasi in 9 hours and 45 minutes, including stoppages at Kanpur and Allahabad.

Developed by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai in a period of 18 months, all coaches of Vande Bharat Express are equipped with automatic doors, GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system and onboard hotspot WiFi for entertainment purposes.

Tickets sold out
Tickets of the first commercial run of Vande Bharat Express on February 17 have been completely sold out, a senior railway official said Friday. The bookings for the train, which will run five days a week between Delhi and Varanasi and back, began Thursday.

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