Train 18, India’s fastest train which is scheduled to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 29 was pelted with stones on Thursday during a trial run between Delhi and Agra and the window of one of the coaches of the train was completely damaged.
“Today when the speed trials were being conducted for Train 18 between Agra and New Delhi, some miscreants threw stones on the train, that damaged one of the windows of the Train 18 on one side,” said ICF spokesperson G V Venkatesan.
He further added that “Such an act of vandalising the public property such as trains, railway stations, are condemnable, in particular, a prestigious brand new train such as Train 18. The public is requested to desist from vandalising railway properties including trains, railway stations and defacing them. After all, it is the public property that belongs to them.”
General Manager of the ICF tweeted, “Train 18 running at 180 km/h between Delhi and Agra at this time. Srinivas, the Chief Design Engineer of ICF is in the cab, they touched 181 kmph for record sake. Some vandal threw a stone breaking a glass, hope we nab him (sic).”
During the trial-run on a section of the Delhi-Rajdhani route, the Train18, manufactured by ICF Chennai at a cost of Rs 100 crore, became India’s fastest train by running at a speed of over 180 kmph.
The train will start from New Delhi station at 6 am and is expected to reach Varanasi at 2 pm. For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 pm from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30 pm on the same day.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has recently asked ICF to build four more similar rakes in the current financial year after getting impressed with the success of Train 18 during trials.