Indian Railways' Rs 100 crore engineless Train 18 to be unveiled on Oct 29

Chennai, Oct 24 (IANS) A Rs 100 crore indeginously-developed high-tech, energy- efficient, self-propelled or engineless train will be unveiled later this month, a top official of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has said. "We are planning to unveil the train on Oct 29," ICF General Manager S.Mani told IANS on Wednesday. He said the train will undergo test runs in two/three sectors for about two months and on satisfactory results, would be inducted into passenger service.

The train, capable of touching speeds of 160 kmph, will replace the Shatabdi Express. "With 16 coaches the train will have the same passenger carrying capacity. There are now separate power cars. But it is about 15-20 per cent energy efficient and leaves less of a carbon footprint," Mani said.

Officials said the trainset was conceived, designed and developed in about 18 months time as against the industry norm of about 3-4 years.

The trainset has aerodynamically designed driver cabins at both the ends for quicker turnaround at destinations. According to an ICF official, every alternative coach is motorised to ensure even distribution of Motive Power and faster acceleration/deceleration.

The train sports an advanced regenerative braking system which saves power.

Mani also said the fully airconditioned train offers better passenger comfort and safety as all the equipments are fixed under the carriage/coach so that more space is available on board.

In the Executive Class, the seats are rotatable to match the train`s direction.

Train 18 will have a modern look with continuous windows on the exterior and its seating capacity will be 1,128.

On the safety front, a Train Management System in the driver`s cab will ensure precise brake control and automated control of the doors.

The coach doors will open only when the train is at zero kmph and the train will start only when all the coach doors are properly closed.

The train will have automated sliding steps uptil the platform avoiding the risk of a passenger falling. The driver can also monitor the movement of passengers on the platform via CCTV in his cabin before closing the door.

There are emergency talk back units (through which passengers can talk to crew in case of emergency) and closed circuit televisions are provided in all coaches for safe and secure travel, officials said.

Further, CCTV cameras on both the sides of driving cab would help the driver to monitor the movement of passengers on the platform before closing the doors and setting off.

Mani said ICF would roll out six such trainsets.

According to him, the first trainset is expected to ply between Delhi and Bhopal.

Mani said this fiscal ICF will be rolling out about 3,200 coaches, 700 more than last year`s production.

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The ICF will be shipping out diesel multiple units (DMU) trains to Sri Lanka this year. Exports will also be made to Bangladesh, Mani said.