On the 15th Feb 2019, India's first semi high-speed (bullet) train, “The Vande Bharat Express” has successfully completed its inaugural run from Delhi to Varanasi . The train is scheduled to start its commercial run from 17th Feb 2019 from Delhi.

Know about Train 18— The Vande Bharat Express

On the 15th Feb 2019, India's first semi high-speed (bullet) train, “The Vande Bharat Express” has successfully completed its inaugural run from Delhi to Varanasi.

1. A Make-In-India Initiative

Designed, developed and built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Perambur, Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India) over a range of year and a half at the expenditure of about Rs 100 crore. With the economies of scale, the assembling cost will be half of a practically identical import substitute.   This is the reason it has supposedly likewise started producing trade interests from different nations.  The Vande Bharat Express as the Indian railways' minister Piyush Goyal says, “The  Train 18 is a precedent that it's conceivable to make world-class prepares under Make in India initiative.

2. Replacing Shatabdi Express

Before Train 18, Shatabdi Express was the third quickest train in the nation, taking 11 hours to finish the 755 km distance between New Delhi and Bhopal stations over Central Railway. However, at this point, the Vande Bharat Express will diminish travel time by 15%, finishing the distinction in just eight hours by going at 160 km/hr.  Now ICF/Chennai has started work on Train 20, another semi-fast train that will supplant the Rajdhani express, which is planned to be dispatch in 2020.

3. Vande Bharat Express Timings

Presently, the timetable of the Vande Bharat Express says that it will leave from Delhi at 6:00 AM and reach Varanasi by 2: 00 PM, with making its first stop at Kanpur at about 10.20 AM and Prayagraj (Allahabad) at 12.25 PM. On it's way back,

Train 18 will come out from Varanasi at 3 PM, make its first stop at Prayagraj at 4.35 PM, the following in Kanpur at 6.30 PM and lastly reach Delhi at 11.00 PM. The days of the run are Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays with no service on Mondays & Thursdays.

4. Train 18 Fares

The fares of the Vande Bharat Express are 1.4 times the fare of Shatabdi Express to travel in Train 18’s chair car. The air-conditioned chair car ticket for Delhi to Varanasi trip will cost Rs 1,760, the executive class tickets are priced at Rs 3,310. These fares include the catering service charge as well. On the other hand, the return journey in chair car will cost Rs 1,700 and the fare for the executive class is Rs 3,260.

5. Facilities

The Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) has a host of world-class amenities like GPS-based passenger information system, infotainment, WiFi, roller blinds and diffused LED lighting, modular toilets with bio-vacuum flushes and disabled-friendly toilets,. Additionally, the train will have inter-connected, fully-sealed gangways, rotational seats in the executive class that can turn in the direction of the travel as well as automatic doors with retractable footsteps.

India’s fastest train, the Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) built under the Make in India initiative was flagged off from Delhi on February 15th by Prime minister Narendra Modi.

The Vande Bharat Express will take about eight hours to travel from Delhi to Varanasi, halting at only two stations on its route- Kanpur, and Prayagraj.

The Indian Railways isn’t leaving any stone unturned in making it the best traveling experience for the people. The Indian Railways is going to serve muffins and donuts for the breakfast and the dinner will include a meal from a 5-star restaurant in Kanpur whereas the lunch will come from a high-end restaurant in Allahabad.

It is expected that there will be a change in the quality of food service as Indian railways often receive a lot of flak.  There will be muffins, donuts, and patties for breakfast. The Vande Bharat Express ditched the regular bread and cutlet breakfast served in the train for a more sophisticated and delicious meal. The subsidiary of Indian Railways—The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) takes care of catering, tourism, and online ticketing operations is planning to outsource catering services to make the travel more comfortable and convenient for the passengers.

The semi-high speed train has two classes- executive class and chair car the tickets for which include the catering charges as well. The Railways had announced the fares yesterday, which they’ve now revised after the feedback. Now, for Delhi to Varanasi, the fares for AC chair car have been reduced from Rs 1,850 to Rs 1,760 and the executive class fares are reduced from Rs 3,520 to Rs 3,310.

On the 15th Feb 2019, India's first semi high-speed (bullet) train, “The Vande Bharat Express” has successfully completed its inaugural run from Delhi to Varanasi. The train is scheduled to start its commercial run from 17th Feb 2019 from Delhi.

On the 15th Feb 2019, India's first semi high-speed (bullet) train, “The Vande Bharat Express” has successfully completed its inaugural run from Delhi to Varanasi. The train is scheduled to start its commercial run from 17th Feb 2019 from Delhi.