Bizzare it may sound, but indeed its true, the man who worked tirelessly for almost two years to shape first semi-high speed, modern-looking and dynamic to give a sophisticated train experience to Indians then named as `Train-18’ to be rechristened as Vande Bharat Express later, made his maiden journey in a Vande Bharat Express route on November 20, 2025 which is almost seven years after the first Vande Bharat Express rolled out between New Delhi to Varanasi on February 15, 2019 flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The train was conceptualised in the year 2016 after a push by PMO to be delivered by 2018, hence the name was coded as Train-18. The gargantuan task of delivering with indigenous technology was taken by the then General Manager of Integral Coach Factory (ICF, Chennai), Sudhanshu Mani, who retired in December 2018 after delivering the train set by multiple testing of world-class standards. Vande Bharat is now criss-crossing different parts of the city, and every run on the rail contours of the country has become a scintillating experience for both people on board these trains and off board to take a glimpse of the vivid colours of the train sets.
As Mani retired in December 2018, he was expecting a courtesy invite for the inaugural run in February 2019, along with his team members, which comprised a galaxy of engineers and technocrats, but his dreams of being part of the historic celebrations could not be realised. A pained Mani chose Lucknow, his hometown, to spend his retiring life. In between, he won several laurels and awards in and out of the country and kept shuttling between Lucknow and Delhi. He remained happy to talk exclusively on Vande Bharat trains and modernisation of Indian railways at scores of seminars and conferences worldwide, but never gave a damn about travelling in the machine that he gave, which is constantly changing the face of Indian Railways.
Mani first travelled from Lucknow to Prayagraj Vande Bharat on Thursday and termed it a ‘pleasant surprise’. “It was an emotional moment when a staff member learnt that I was travelling. He confirmed to me, and within minutes, several railway staff on board took turns to meet and greet me. They gave me a great round of applause, and then the entire passengers perhaps came to know that I was one of them who was instrumental in shaping the Vande Bharat. Indeed, I can say it’s a dream come true for me, though late, but no regrets as I feel happy for being a small contributor in the country’s aggressive growth,” Mani told The Pioneer when sought his comments on the maiden Vande Bharat train. The semi-high-speed train was designed and manufactured by the ICF Chennai as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative under the supervision of Sudhanshu Mani and others, and most of them are retired now.
The team faced several challenges, including limited domestic expertise and resources as well as some vigilance charges, but managed to create a world-class train with a top speed of 180 km/hour. The vigilance probe against 11 officials, including Mani, was, however, closed in August 2021, which turned out to be of a vested interest of a particular lobby who were pitching for importing semi-high speed trains to India.
All 11 ICF Chennai officials were exonerated in the case about the procurement of mechanical items for Train-18 on a single tender basis. “No procedural violations were found on the part of any officers,” the vigilance note dated August 10, 2021, noted.
The cases were initiated in 2019 and brought the Train-18 project to a grinding halt. The charges against ICF officials were of favouring a company that was supplying the propulsion system in the first two train-sets. Later, two tenders were cancelled. Interestingly, the same company has won the contract for new Vande Bharat trains. Mani told The Pioneer he was relieved since then but was never surprised, as he knew there was no wrongdoing. “I suffered while the vigilance process was on. Today, after my travel, I can say a dream come true,” Mani said.