Train-18 or T-18, manufactured by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, at the cost of Rs 100 crore, has Lucknow links. In fact, the superfast train was designed by Sudhanshu Mani, who recently retired as general manager of ICF, Chennai, a resident of Indira Nagar colony.
Mani conceptualised the gleaming blue-nosed train with facilities even superior than Shatabdi Express. It comes fitted with amenities at par with the best in the world having on-board WiFi to GPS-based passenger information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature according to occupancy and weather.
It has plug door facility like the one in Metro trains which close when the train is in motion. It has a talk-back facility and in case of an emergency, passengers can talk to the train driver directly.
The engine-less train has motors for power generation under coaches and each coach is connected in a way that one may travel to the last coach from the start. “Its luggage rack and censor monitored doors when entering a coach is also at par,” said Sudhanshu Mani.
The train will have two executive compartments which will have 52 seats each and trailer coaches will have 78 seats each. The executive class will have rotating seats to match the direction of the train.
Mani said that the nose-shaped design was a concept which he had in mind since he took the charge of GM at IFC, Chennai. “It is called aerodynamically profiled nose and its helps in reducing the resistance of air when a train is in movement. This way the train gets a desired speed,” he said.
“The name - Train 18 - was coined in view of the project which we had to complete by 2018. We took the project in April 2017 and planned to complete it within 20 months. Coincidentally, we completed the task in 18 months flat,” he said.
Mani said it was great challenge when the project got a go ahead from the Railway ministry. “It is purely a train set on the tracks. The coaches have been designed in a way that they give much comfort to the passengers. The RDSO had recently conducted a trial and declared it fit for run," he said.
Mani pointed out that the ICF had plans to manufacture as many as 10 train sets akin to the first T-18 by 2020.
Mani once studied at Colvin Taluqdars' College in Mahanagar. He later served in RDSO as director of Power Motive between 1991 and 2000 and as an executive director, Power Motive, between 2007 and 2010. He also served in the capacity of ADRM, Secunderabad, and DRM, Chennai, before joining as GM, ICF, Chennai.
“For me, RDSO is an institution which carves the best out of you. Whatever I did I learnt it was from the RDSO,” Mani said crediting his success to the premier rail design organisation.