About

• It is India’s first indigenously built engineless semi-high speed train.
• The fully air-conditioned semi-high speed train will cut travel time by 15% as compared to the Shatabdi.
• It has been manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ initiative by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
• The features include touch free automatic doors inside the passengers compartment and GPS-enabled passenger information system, showing train speed, location, time to reach destination etc.
• It will also feature an onboard uninterrupted Wifi and infotainment (broadcast material which is intended both to entertain and to inform) system.

• It has aircraft-like bio-vacuum toilets for efficient flushing. Touch-free sensor-based fittings have been used for optimal consumption of water.
• Train18 is being regarded as a successor to the 30-year-old Shatabdi Express.

About Make in India

• The Make in India initiative was launched by the Prime Minister in September 2014 which is devised to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub.
• The scheme is helping drive investment, fostering innovation, developing skills, protecting Intellectual Property (IP) and building best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure.

• The aim of this campaign is to grow the contribution of manufacturing to 25% of GDP as seen with other developing nations of Asia.
• For the Make in India campaign, the government of India has identified 25 priority sectors that shall be promoted adequately.

Why in News?

• The Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, that was tasked with manufacturing 720 coaches for operating 45 Vande Bharat Express trains across the country in December 2019 has said that the projects will be delayed due to the lockdown.