Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off India's first engineless train Vande Bharat Express on February 15 from the New Delhi Railway station, a senior official of the ministry told PTI Wednesday.
Train 18, which was recently named as Vande Bharat Express by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
It became India's fastest train by hitting speeds of over 180 kmph during a trial run on a section of the Delhi-Rajdhani route.
"The PM will flag off the train at 10 am on February 15 and there will be a function in which he will give a speech as well. It's a matter of great pride for us as this is the Railways' first indigenous train," the official said.
The 16-coach train will replace the 30-year-old Shatabdi Express and will run between Delhi and Varanasi.
The train which will run at a speed of 130 kmph will reduce journey time between the two cities from the present 11 hours and 30 minutes to 8 hours, the Railways said. "The train is 45 per cent faster than the fastest train on this route. It will be flagged off by the prime minister ahead of the Kumbh Mela," said source.
It will have just 5-6 stoppages in its route journey. The self-propelled train, fitted with CCTV cameras, will have two executive compartments. The two executive compartments will have 52 seats each, whereas trailer coaches will have 78 seats each.
