India’s First Semi-Bullet Train To Bring Delhi, Varanasi Closer

Train 18 is now officially India's fastest train that will cruise at a sustained speed of 180km per hour, railway minister Piyush Goyal announced in a tweet on December 26. The chief commissioner of railway safety has given the go-ahead for the train to run at maximum speed of 160km per hour as the sturdy fencing is required along the track to avoid any mishap. This new fleet of train will also replace the existing Shatabdi Express coaches, making the travel more comfortable and swift. Train 18 will initially run between Delhi and Varanasi and will be put on long route at later stage.

Here is all you need to know about India’s first of its kind semi-bullet train:

The speed effect
Train 18 has been designed to run at a speed of 160 km/hour with the help of electric multiple units (EMU) system ensuring better acceleration, easier application of brakes, making the travel faster and safer. On the route it is being introduced on, the 1,400-kilometre journey will be completed in 12 hours, an otherwise 18-hour run. Such system has so far been in use in the sub-urban rail network system but the speed has been restricted due to frequent halts. For long-distance routes, the tracks have to be upgraded, which at present have the capacity to handle a speed of 130 km/hour. The Indian Railways is also in process to build the next edition Train 20 that will run at 200 km/hour.

Inside Train 18
Train 18 will have 16 coaches, including two executive class with rotating seats. On-board infotainment, Wi-Fi connectivity, vacuum-controlled toilets, disable-friendly facilities, roller blinds, diffused-LED lighting are some of the features that will make Train 18 exclusive and first of its kind. All the rakes will be completely air-conditioned with 78 seat in usual coaches and 52 seats in the executive class.

Current status
According to Research Designs and Standards Organisation, the trial run of Train 18 has been conducted successfully at a speed of 115 km/hour.  It will be transferred to Delhi for trials on the selected routes between Kota and Sawai Madhopur for performance trials at 160km/hour. Earlier, the plan was to launch the rake by July but got delayed due to safety trials and clearances. Termed as semi-bullet train, it is first made in India, engineless train but has several imported components which will be replaced with Indian version in the next edition.