Train 18 launch Highlights: PM Modi flags off Vande Bharat Express; says railways has recruited 1.2 lakh people in last four years

Train 18 launch Highlights: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has today launched India's fastest Train 18, named as Vande Bharat Express at New Delhi Railway Station. The train will run between Delhi-Varanasi on five days a week, except on Monday and Thursday. The commercial run of Vande Bharat Express will begin from February 17. In a booster for Train 18, all seats have been booked for its first commercial journey which will start on February 17. Here are all the updates you need to know about Train 18: 

Train 18 launch Highlights:

11.30 am: The complete booking of the Vande Bharat Express for its first commercial journey on Feb 17 will act as a booster for Indian Railways.

11.20 am: PM Modi waves at Train 18 as it leaves New Delhi railway stations

Delhi: Visuals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi onboard Vande Bharat Express (Train-18). pic.twitter.com/56HdybH6cS

— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2019

11.15 am: PM Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal inspect Train 18

11.14 am: Indian Railways has recruited 1.2 lakh people in the last four years and the number will reach 2.5 lakh by the end of this year: Modi

11.12 am: Elimination of unmanned level corssings on broad-guage lines have reduced accidents: Modi

11.11 am: We have reduced the approval time of new rail projects to maximum of six months from earlier 3 years: Modi

11.10 am: PM says that we have worked hard to change the Indian Railways in last four years and Train 18 is one of its example.

11.05 am: Train 18 launch - Watch PM Modi's address Live here

PM @narendramodi flags off India's first semi-high speed train #VandeBharatExpress in New Delhi

Watch LIVE here
YouTube: https://t.co/WfXm3vgLDF
Facebook: https://t.co/GUojEA75BX

— PIB India (@PIB_India) February 15, 2019

10.57 am: PM Modi flags off Vande Bharat Express; pays tribute to Kashmir terror attack martyrs

India gets the first Semi High Speed Train, 'Vande Bharat Express.' https://t.co/dSZLJaoWRY

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 15, 2019

10.55 am: PM pays tribute to Kashmir terror atrack martyrs.

10.52 am: Two-minutes of silence will be observed ahead of the flagging off to pay tribute to the Kashmir terror attack martyrs, reports Vivek Tiwari.

10.50 am: PM' arrival was delayed as he was in the curcial CCS meeting in wake of Kashmir terror attack. PM has arrived at the New Delhi Railway station for the launch.

10.45 am: Just in: Platform number two has been fully covered by security personnels. SPG has arrived at platfrom number 1 where Train 18 is standing, reports Vivek Tiwari.

10.42 am: The Vande Bharat Express will leave from New Delhi at 6 am and will reach Varanasi at 2 pm. It will have stoppages at Kanpur Central and Allahabad Junction. The train will run on Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun.

10.40 am: Train 18 has a total of 16 coaches with seating capacity of 1,100 people. 

10.35 am: You will be proud to know that Train 18 is India's first engineless and self-propelled train.

10.30 am: Vande Bharat Express has been fully booked for its Feb 17 journey. All AC Chair Car and Execurive Chair Car seats fully booked. BIG FEAT for Made In India train.

10.28 am: During trial run, the Train 18 has achieved a maximum speed of 180 kmph. However, it has the capability of running at 200-210 kmph.

10.25 am: Another quick GK for you: Train 18 was built by Intergral Coach Factory Chennai in record time of 18 months. It takes around 36 months to manufacture a train of this kind anywhere in the world.

10.20 am: Do you know that Vande Bharat Express has Glass-bottom luggage rack in every coach?

10.16 am: PM Narendra Modi will be reaching New Delhi Railway Station around 10.30 am and will flag off the Vande Bharat Express around 10.50 am, reports our Special Correspondent Vivek Tiwari.

10.15 am: In wake of death of CRPF jawans in Kashmir yesterday, Vande Bharat Express has not been decorate with flowers.

10.12 am: The Train has been assigned number 22436 for New Delhi to Varanasi and 22435 for Varanasi to New Delhi.

10.05 am: Journalists and officials board the train ahead of inaguration by PM Modi.

9.55 am: The Train 18 aka Vande Bharat Express will be fastest train on the Delhi-Varanasi route as it will complete the journey in just 8 hours while other train take around 12 hours at present.

9.50 am: The IRCTC has started accepting booking for the Train 18 and to your surprise, all the executive class seats has already been booked for the February 17. An Executive Class seat has been priced at Rs 3,300.

9.30 am: Check out this Train 18 inauguration teaser

Here is a small teaser of India’s first semi-high speed train #VandeBharatExpress which will be flagged off by PM @narendramodi on February 15, 2019.#TransformingIndia #MadeInIndia@PMOIndia @Ra_THORe @PiyushGoyal pic.twitter.com/xALzYHmiWW

— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) February 14, 2019

9.00 am: New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express will start its journey from Delhi at 6 am and reach Varanasi at 2 pm. On the same day, it will start the return journey at 3 pm and reach Delhi at 11 pm.

8.45 am: Train 18, or, the Vande Bharat Express, will run on five days in a week, except on Monday and Thursday.

8.30 am: From Delhi to Varanasi, Train 18 ticket for air-conditioned chair car will cost Rs 1760 and the fare for the executive class will be Rs 3310. On the return journey, chair car will cost Rs 1700 and the executive class will cost Rs 3260.