by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the indigenously built Train 18, called the Vande Bharat Express, on February 15 from here, a Railway Ministry official said.
Train 18, the country’s first engine-less train manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, will be flagged off at 10 a.m. from the New Delhi railway station.
“He will also address people while flagging off the train,” the official said on Wednesday.
The passengers travelling from New Delhi to Varanasi in the executive class will be charged Rs 399 for morning tea, breakfast and lunch, while travellers in the chair car will need to pay Rs 344 for the same.
While the passengers travelling from New Delhi to Kanpur and Prayagraj will have to pay Rs 155 and Rs 122 for executive class and chair car, respectively.
From Varanasi to New Delhi, the passengers will be charged Rs 349 and Rs 288 in the executive class and chair, respectively. They will be served evening tea with snacks and dinner.
The Railway Ministry had earlier indicated that the fare of Train 18 would be 40-50 per cent higher than that of the Shatabdi Express.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said that the indigenously built train would complete the distance of 795 km in eight hours, 35 per cent faster than other fastest trains on route.
Train 18recently became India’s fastest train by hitting a speed of over 180 kmph during a trial run.
It would soon start replacing the Shatabdi Express trains and run between Delhi and Varanasi.
The gleaming blue-nosed train comes fitted with the world class amenities like high-speed on-board WiFi, GPS-based passenger information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature accordingly.
The 16-coach train will have two executive compartments which will have 52 seats each and trailer coaches will have 78 seats each.
The executive class will have rotating seats to match the direction of the train.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
New Delhi : The railway ministry on Wednesday described as factually incorrect and speculative in nature a report that the indigenously built trainset, the Train-18, is stuck due to a bitter departmental fight within the Railways.
A ministry spokesperson said that Train 18 is under procedural evaluation right now and to attribute the ongoing evaluation to inter departmental rivalry is “factually incorrect and speculative in nature”.
The spokesperson was reacting to a report which said that a fight between the electrical and mechanical wings of the Railways is so intense that, despite a conditional clearance from the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) on December 21, the Railway Board is again planning to send it back to the CCRS to resolve the contentious issue of the Electrical Inspector General (EIG) safety certificate.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
By Arun Kumar Das,
New Delhi : Indian Railways has set up a separate team to ensure speedy trials of the much-awaited Trainset, a first for the national transporter, that will roll out on October 29 from Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF).
A separate directorate of six senior officials has been created in the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) to ensure speedy trials of the first indigenously-built semi-high speed train and subsequently other such trains in future on the Indian rail network.
Branded Train-18, the AC train with 16 coaches will undergo short runs near ICF for five days for testing its braking system, the on board air conditioning and other systems — as well as for familiarising the crew with the control systems — before reaching New Delhi on November 7.
“The new train will then move to the Moradabad-Bareli section for 150 kmph speed trials for a few days,” a senior Railway Ministry official told IANS. Thereafter, the train will run at 160 kmph between Kota and Sawai Madhopur for the final trial.
“Both sections will have empty and sandbag loaded trials and the RDSO will monitor the entire process before giving the green signal for the commercial run between Delhi and Bhopal,” the official said.
A trainset is a set of coaches coupled mechanically and electrically with driving cabins at both ends and distributed traction power across the train.
Dubbed as next-generation train, it is capable of running at speeds of up to 160 kmph.
The acceleration and decceleration is faster in a trainset as compared to other trains hauled by locomotives, thereby considerably reducing the travel time.
Driven by a self-propulsion module and fitted with CCTV cameras, it would have two executive compartments in the middle with 52 seats each, while the other coaches would have 78 seats each.
Estimated to cost about Rs 100 crore, the first trainset will have a few imported components such as French-made seats, brakes and couplers from Germany, along with a Czech-made door system — all of which are to be indigenised for the next rake.
ICF will be manufacturing six trainsets under the Train-18 programme, of which two are planned with sleeper class coaches.
Aimed as a landmark improvement in passenger travel, rotating seats which can be aligned in the direction of travel, onboard infotainment system with non-stop Wi-Fi, vacuum toilets, sliding doors and continuous windows for a contemporary modern look are some other features of the trainset.
(Arun Kumar Das can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com )
—IANS
