India’s first engineless train

Rashi Agarwal

The first engineless train set conceptualised, designed and made fully in India, will be set for trial in a week’s time. This train looks like a bullet train. “A train set uses self-propulsion and does not need a locomotive”, said Sudhanshu Mani, general manager of Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the firm that has designed and manufactured this train set.

This train set is called Train-18 and has been manufactured at a cost of Rs 100 crore. As more trains are manufactured, the costs will go down. This 16-coach train has the latest amenities and can cut down travel time by 10-15%. It has been built for quick intra-day travel on Shatabdi Express routes like Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bengaluru and Delhi-Bhopal. It has 50% more power so has better acceleration than normal trains. It has a smart braking system imported from Hungary.

The time taken from design to finish was 18 months. Some of the features of this train are:

• 16 AC coaches with 2 executive ones
• The driving coach has 44 seats
• The trailer coach has 78 seats
• The executive chair car has 52 seats
• Maximum speed will be 220 kmph
• 6 CCTV cameras in each coach with one outside the driver’s coach to monitor passengers
• 360 degrees rotatable seats imported from Spain
• Talk-back facilty to the driver
• Emergency switch in each coach
• 2 disabled-friendly toilets and space for baby-care
• Special pantry units

The train will be unveiled on October 29. The train’s speed test will be conducted on the Moradabad-Bareilly and Kota-Sawai Madhopur stretch next month, said officials. It will be conducted by Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) over an 80-day long period.