The 160km/h Train 18 set is being used on Delhi - Varanasi Vande Bahrat Express services, which operate daily, except on Mondays and Thursdays with intermediate stops at Kanpur - Allahabad.
The 16-car air-conditioned train will seat 1128 passengers and features passenger Wi-Fi, a GPS-based passenger information system, bio-vacuum toilets, and personal reading lights at every seat. Each coach is equipped with a galley serving hot meals.
Chair car fares are 40% higher than those of Shatabdi Express services with a 30% premium on executive car tickets.
The Vande Bahrat Express will cover the 776km between New Delhi and Varanasi in eight hours, compared with 11.5 at present.
The train encountered issues on its inaugural journey on February 16 when brakes in a carriage reportedly jammed. Soon after the brakes failed, the drivers noticed smoke in the last four coaches and power was lost in all compartments, and the train had to be brought to Delhi to fix the fault.
However, the train was fixed in time for the first commercial run on February 17, which was sold out.
Train 18 was developed and built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai in less than 20 months using 80% domestic content.
