Racing ahead

Train 18 had its first run on February 17 this year and was straightaway in the news for its top speed of 160 km/hour. That made it faster than the Shatabdi by a good 30 km/hour leaving only the famed Rajdhani to catch up with. That was taken care of on the trial run on a section of the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani route, when the engineless train managed to cross the 180 km/hour, making it the fastest. Train 18 is also called Vande Bharat Express, obviously a clear intent to drive home the patriotic fervour. A product of the Make in India initiative, it was designed and built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai over a period of 18 months. Plying between New Delhi and Varanasi, the distance of 775 km is covered in eight hours. Technology in the form of regenerative brakes knocks off electricity costs by 30%. After the routine teething issues, where its glass was shattered on its trial run, train number 22436, which runs five days a week, seems to have found its rhythm. In the month of April, it has had a 'zero' minute delay, simply meaning it was always on time. The new kid on the block will be the Train 20, which is set to replace the Rajdhani Express and a top speed of 200 km/hour. Being in the fast lane is a lot of fun indeed.