PM flags off India’s first engineless train Vande Bharat Express

NEW DELHI: The first engineless train under ‘Make in India’ scheme flagged off on February 15, 2019 by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. As of now, this semi-high speed train will operate between New Delhi and Varanasi.

The Prime Minister flagged off the train at New Delhi Railway Station. He also took a look at all the functions and facilities in the train. A team of officials lead by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways and Coal were also present at the occasion. The train will reach Kanpur and Prayagraj where it will be received by dignitaries and people.

Vande Bharat Express which was previously named as Train 18 can run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph. The train is a replacement for Shatabdi Express with better facilities. Vande Bharat Express will cover the distance between New Delhi and Varanasi in only 8 hours. It will operate in all the week days except Monday and Thursday.

The Vande Bharat Express is equipped with automatic doors, onboard WiFi hotspot; GPS based Audio Visual Passenger Information system. And at last, very comfortable seating experience. Every coach has a pantry with facility to serve hot meals, hot and cold beverages. The insulation is meant to keep heat and noise to very low levels for additional passenger comfort. The total seating capacity is 1,128 passengers.

(With inputs from PIB)