Indian Railways Building 160 Kmph Speed ‘World Class’ Train Sets at Half the Cost of Imported Ones

Aishhwariya Subramanian   February 21, 2017 

Starting 2018, the Indian Railways will begin building a train set that will be built entirely in India and will travel up to 160 kmph! The Integral Coach Factory (ICF), that is based out of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, has noted that the trains will be self-propelled and technologically advanced while boasting the latest in amenities. And the upside to it all? The price would be half of what it generally costs to import such trains.

The train sets are currently in the design stage. The Indian Railways has currently given the project the moniker Train-2018, because once the designs are approved, they will begin manufacturing them in 2018.

Image for representation. Image source: Wikimedia

Elaborating on details about the train sets, an ICF official told Financial Express, “The new train will have world-class facilities for passengers. The train will have plush interiors and diffused LED lighting. The toilets of these coaches will be fitted with zero discharge vacuum based bio-toilets and touch-free fittings. The train set will be equipped with under slung 3 Phase IGBT-based propulsion system, which is energy efficient. Train 2018 will also offer more passenger space.”

So, what kind of features will Train-2018 boast? For starters, it will be fully air conditioned and will provide infotainment. Apart from speed, it will also provide passengers with free Wi-Fi, and the toilets will be modular. Unlike most Indian railway coaches, these would have automatic doors that would open and close when the train pulls into respective stations.

The Indian Railways has made it a priority to increase the speeds of Indian trains. In fact, among its other initiatives, the government has tied up with Russia to help build trains that go up to 200 kmph. Currently, the average of Indian railways is 120 kmph.