3. HISTORY
• It has been the endeavor of Indian Railways to improve the quality of travel for
every customer and in this direction theTejas, Humsafar,Antyodaya and Deen
Dayalu coaches have been put into service. Indian Railways plans to turn out state
of the artTrain18 train sets which will revolutionize rail travel.
• A train-set as the name suggests is a self propelled train like the EMU and DEMU
stock in service today. It has the inherent advantage of faster acceleration and turn
around as compared to a conventional train since no reversal of locomotive is
required as there is a driving cab at either end.This initiative by team ICF in the high
speed travel will improve passenger satisfaction and help Indian Railways reclaim
its modal share in the passenger segment.
• Normally, in abroad, they take nearly 3 to 4 years to conceive, design and develop
such new type of coaches. But, ICF has taken only 1 year for planning and design
and now the works are going on for the past 6 months.
4. TECHNOLOGY
• Driven by a self-propulsion module sans a separate locomotive, the semi-high speed
train, comes with technical features for enhanced quick acceleration.
• Train 18 will be capable of speeds of upto 160 kmph equivalent of the Gatiman
express the only semi-high speed train being run today. The propulsion system will
be under slung and all coaches will be inter-connected with fully sealed gangways.
This will be run in a 16 car formation consisting of four sets of four cars each. Each
electrically powered set will consist of a driving trailer car (DTC), a motor car (MC),a
trailer car(TC) and another motor car.
• ICF has developed this technology with the help of European partners. It has a
potential to travel up to the speed at 160 kmph as against 130 kmph of Shatabdi and
would result in the travel time being reduced by around 15% once the tracks are fit
to suit Train 18's speed.
5. FEATURES
• Inter-connected fully sealed gangways
• Automatic doors with retractable footsteps
• Onboard Wi-Fi and infotainment
• GPS-based passenger information system
• Modular toilets with bio-vacuum systems
• Rotational seats which can be aligned in the direction of travel (available only in the executive class)
• Roller blinds
• Diffused LED lighting
• Disabled-friendly toilets
6. OTHER FEATURES
• Stainless steel body with continuous windows
• LHB coach base design –all chair cars
• 160 kmph speed on run with trial at 180 kmph
• Maximum axle load of 18T and starting acceleration of about 0.8m/s2
7. INVESTMENT
• The cost of each coach is expected to be about 60-65 million INR
which is about half the cost in other countries for similar coaches.This
may seem more than the 25 -30 million INR costs of a conventional
LHB coach but this also include the cost of motive power and are thus
competitive.
• Developed by the Integral Coach Factory in 18 months, the full AC
train is designed in such a way that passengers can have a look at the
driver's cabin. It cost nearly Rs 100 crore to build the prototype and
subsequent production would bring down the cost.These trains
would be the fastest in India when introduced.
8. • The train set has been flagged off for an inaugural run by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, on 15
February 2019, with its commercial run starting from 17 February 2019 onwards.The train broke down
on its first trip on 16 February, with officials citing brake failure secondary to striking cattle as the cause.
• It will be running on the Delhi-Varanasi route, via Kanpur and Prayagraj, connecting the Prime minister's
Lok Sabha seat to the Capital city, reducing travel time along the route by 15 percent. The train's
regenerative brakes are also expected to allow a 30% savings in electricity costs as compared to its
predecessor. At an operating speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph), it will outpace the Shatabdi
Express by 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph). Although the trainset has been tested for speeds up to 180
kph, operational speed has been capped at 130 kph as an internal report by Indian Railways indicated
that just 0.3% of the company's track is capable of supporting speeds of that magnitude.Every other car
on the train is motorized. The 8 hour journey from New Delhi toVaranasi station has the base fare of
₹1,239.00 and covers the total distance of about 775 kilometers.
INITIAL RUN