New Delhi: With all the safety clearances, trials and tests in place, the railways is all set to launch the indigenously-built Train-18 with fares that are likely to be around 40-50 per cent higher than the Shatabdi Express, officials said. Officials said they have approached PMO seeking time for the launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is likely after the presentation of the budget. The first train is slated to run between New Delhi and Varanasi, the PM's LS constituency.
They said that the engineless Train-18, whose traction equipment is mounted below the bogies, got the final clearance of the Electrical Inspector to the Government (EIG) on Thursday and "thus we have approached the PMO seeking time for the inaugural run of the train on the New Delhi-Varanasi route".