Vandals Target Train 18, India’s Fastest

New Delhi: Stone pelting is nothing unusual for Indian railways especially in some northern and eastern states, but what set the alarm bells ringing at Rail Bhawan on Thursday was that vandals targetted the Train 18, India’s fastest passenger service during a trial run.

The incident happened when the self-propelled train, set to be inaugurated on December 29, had touched a record speed of 181 kmph during the trial run between Delhi and Agra.

“As the train was on high speed, suddenly a stone came hurling towards the coaches, smashing one of the windows,” a senior railway official told Odisha Bytes.

Its a matter of serious concern as there could be no compromise on safety running high-speed trains. A damaged window can significantly bring down the speed of the train, the official noted, adding an investigation is underway.

Sudhanshu Mani, general manager of Integral Coach Factory and the brain behind Train 18, could not hide is angst as he took to Twitter soon after the incident and hoped that the vandals will be arrested soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the train between Delhi and Varanasi on December 29.

Immediately after the incident, Railways appealed to public to desist from damaging railway property that has essentially made for their convenience.

Train 18 is set to take the country a step further in ushering high speed rail service in India as it will seemingly replace the Shatabdi class trains in phases on different routes. Manufactured at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore, Train 18 will run at a peak speed of 160 kmph and is fitted with amenities matching the best in the world. The mint white coaches is self-propelled, meaning it need not be hauled by engines. The interiors have a climate control system that adjust the temperature according to occupancy and weather.

ICF is also at the advanced stage of designing Train 20 that will phase out the Rajdhani class of trains in future.