On July 8, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India’s first train with a “steam engine” motif will shortly be introduced. A historic special train mimics a train driven by a vintage steam engine and will travel along tourist routes. At Chennai Central Railway Station, the Railways Minister also looked over the “heritage specials” train.
It will be implemented on historic lines in the coming months and will resemble a genuine steam engine train in appearance. Three air-conditioned executive chair cars, one air-conditioned pantry car, and a restaurant carriage would be aboard the special train.
train constructed with the motif of steam engines
Vaishnaw further on the idea by stating that the Railways intended to launch a brand-new concept called a “Heritage special” with the motif of steam engines. “The steam engine, as we all know, is very emotionally connected to us, and even though it is not running today, we thought we can create a new concept that looks like a steam engine but actually operates by electricity,” he said to reporters.
Special heritage items
According to the Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given with the idea of a historical train with a steam motif, and he agreed that “virasat bhi, vikas bhi,” or “heritage and development,” should go hand in hand. “This new concept has been created as a heritage special, and I thank the very good technical officers, staff, Golden Rock Railway Workshop, Tiruchirappalli, Perambur, and Avadi who have all contributed in creating this concept,” he added.
He said that the customised train will be tested first on lengthy historical lines before being made available to visitors in two to three months. “We’ll test this out first, and then produce more of it. It should be put to use by the general public in another two to three months. In essence, the testing we did on the ground is over, and we have the safety certificate to prove it. We’ll test it out on longer routes before putting it into regular commercial use, he added.
“This is more like a modification of what’s already there.”
When asked where the money for creating this idea came from, he said, “The boiler is brand-new, but this is more of a modification of the existing stuff. It is reasonably priced. Vaishnaw said that the Ministry is working with a “comprehensive programme” on the operation of the North-South corridor for freight trains, including which are the primary sources of cargo and what are the major destinations for the cargo.
“That is the strategy we are using. We are currently looking at improving the existing (freight) lines, railroads is considering, he added.