As the indigenous engineless Train 18 breached the speed of 180 km per hour in a pilot run, a part of the journey was captured on camera. Touted to be India’s fastest train it is capable of touching 200 km per hour provided the other systems like tracks and signals support the speed.
जोर स्पीड का झटका धीरे से लगा: 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 pic.twitter.com/CImC49ljgm
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 2, 2018
The commercial launch of the train could be as early as December 25, which is the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The train service is likely to be launched between New Delhi and Varanasi, according to a report by news agency IANS. The Railways had earlier said that the launch will be in January 2019.
ALSO READ: All you need to know about the all-new T-18
” Train 18 breached the 180 kmph speed limit in the Kota-Sawai Madhopur section. The major trials are now over, with just some more remaining. Based on the reports, fine tuning would be done if needed. As of now no major technical problem has cropped up,” S Mani, General Manager of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) that has manufactured the train, told IANS.
Manufactured at cost of Rs 100 crore, with 16 coaches it will replace the current Shatabdi Express. The ICF plans to roll out one more Train 18 this fiscal and four by the next fiscal.
It does not need an engine as it is a self-propelled on electric traction, like metro trains. It has aerodynamically designed driver cabins at both ends for quicker turn-around at destinations.
The train sports an advanced regenerative braking system which saves power.
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