Railways to produce set of 100 Train 18s

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal interacts with the media while travelling by the India's first semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express, after it was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from New Delhi Railway Station on Friday. (PTI Photo)

The Railways will produce a set of 100 Train 18s to run on semi-high speed routes across the country, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

The minister was speaking in Train 18, which was rechristened as Vande Bharat Express. The train was on an inaugural journey from New Delhi to Varanasi.

"PM Narendra Modi asked the Railways to produce 100 more Train 18s and for producing 30 trains, tender has been finalised," he said.

Manufacturing of Train 18 with indigenous technology is a success of Make In India programme, the minister said.

The minister also said that all railway tracks on the Golden Quadrilateral routes would be upgraded with better infrastructure to enable trains to run at a speed of 160 km per hour.