CHENNAI: Vande Bharat Express Train marks the advent of the semi-high-speed train set, which revolutionized the notion of rail travel experience with state-of-the-art passenger amenities and reduced travel time.
On February 15, 2019, the Hon’blePM Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Exhibiting the true spirit of the ‘Make-In-India’ initiative, this indigenously engineered train set is being manufactured at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
The Idea of manufacturing indigenous semi high speed train sets came during 1st Rail Vikas Shivir in 2016. The project began in mid-2017 and Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai, manufactured Train-18 in 2018, India’s first semi-high-speed train set, in just 18 months. The train was named Train-18 to signify the target completion time and the deadline set by ICF (18 months i.e by 2018). 2nd December the Train-18 breached the 180 kmph speed limit on the Kota-Sawai Madhopur section. In January 2019, acknowledging its made-in-India status, Indian Railways has named the indigenously manufactured Train.