Fastest train with top speed of 160km launched

India flagged off its fastest-ever train yesterday as part of a major modernisation of the crumbling railway system - but its top speed is only half of those in China and other countries. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu hailed the Gatimaan Express, running from New Delhi to the Taj Mahal and boasting hostesses and bone china crockery, as “a new era of high-speed rail travel”. But the express has a top speed of 160km per hour, compared to trains in China, Japan, France and other countries which can reach 320km per hour or more. Described by the government as India’s first “semi high-speed train”, it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s $135bn plan to overhaul Asia’s oldest rail network over five years. The 100-minute journey on the Gatimaan Express, from the capital to Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal, will cost between Rs750 and Rs1,500 depending on seat class. The Gatimaan also includes plush interiors, bio-toilets and soap dispensers, a GPS-passenger information service, automatic sliding doors in coaches, a Wi-Fi-based electronic entertainment system and a range of cuisines served on china in executive class.The train will run six days a week. It comprises two executive air-conditioned chair cars and eight AC chair car coaches. Catering will be carried out by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a railway undertaking.“IRCTC has made arrangement for deploying train hostesses on board the train. This train will see improved catering and will have options of different kinds of cuisines,” a statement said.