Train 18, India’s fastest engine-less train, again attacked with stones during trial run

Train 18, India’s fastest engine-less train, again came under stone-pelting during its trial run on Friday. This was the second such incident in less than two months. The latest incident took place when the train left Sakurbasti around 11:03 pm on Friday to reach New Delhi to begin its trial run to Allahabad, railways said told news agency PTI. However, no one was hurt in the incident and no arrests were made. The train was escorted by Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel. "On reaching New Delhi station, the escort party informed about stone pelting. Second coach from the front was hit near Sadar area under DLT (Delhi Lahori Gate) post.

"A railway servant present in T-18 informed the escort party that a stone hit the window glass of coach no.188320 of T-18," a northern Railway official said.

In a similar incident on December 20, the train was attacked during a trial run between Delhi and Agra.

What is Train 18?

# It is India’s first engineless train which has been manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.

# It recently became India's fastest train by hitting speeds of over 180 kmph during a trial run on a section of the Delhi-Rajdhani route.

# It will replace Shatabdi trains and will run between Delhi and Varanasi.

RELATED

# Recently, the Indian Railways has named Train 18 as Vande Bharat Express, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said. The train, which is set to run between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour, will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon.

# The 16-coach train was made under the government's Make in India project. The fully air-conditioned train will stop at Kanpur and Allahabad and will have two executive chair cars.

# The gleaming, blue-nosed train comes fitted with amenities on a par with the best in the world - on-board Wi-Fi, GPS-based passenger information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points, and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature according to occupancy and weather.