Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi Railway Station in the presence of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and other senior officials from the railways.

The mood of the ceremony was muted in the backdrop of the 14 February Pulwama terror attack that left 44 CRPF jawans martyred.

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Before flagging off the train, PM Modi spoke to senior officials associated with the construction of the Vande Bharat Express.

He also took a tour of one of the coaches and inspected the driver’s cabin. The PM was seen enquiring about the design and the facilities provided to the passengers. He was shown how the driver of the train can see the happenings inside the coaches with the help of on-board CCTV cameras.

“I am grateful to designers and engineers behind Vande Bharat Express which will take its first trip from Delhi to Varanasi today. With our sincerity and hardwork in the last 4.5 years we have tried to improve railways,” the PM said expressing his pride in the development of the train.

The train that was flagged off by the PM today will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in nine hours and forty-five minutes. This includes stoppage time of 40 minutes each at Kanpur and Allahabad where there will be special programmes.

Read More | Vande Bharat Express: Check Train 18 full schedule, fares, timings, stations on Delhi-Varanasi route

Reports say that Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and members of the Railway Board will be on board the train on its inaugural journey

The Vande Bharat Express, India’s first semi-high speed train, has been produced indigenously at the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, in 18 months.

Previously called Train 18, the Vande Bharat Express is engineless and can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph though it clocked 180 kmph during a trial run.

Read More | Watch: Train 18 moves at 180 kmph but water bottles remain stable

Designed and constructed by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the train was flagged off by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani on 29 October.

Vande Bharat Express has 16 coaches and the same number of seats as in a Shatabdi Express, which it will replace. The total seating capacity is 1,128 passengers.

The fares of the train are 40 per cent higher than that of Shatabdi.

Read More: First train to run from New Delhi to Varanasi, fares 40-50% higher than Shatabdi

Passenger comfort has been given detailed attention. Features include CCTVs, onboard Wi-Fi and infotainment, rotational seats, modular and disabled-friendly toilets with bio-vacuum systems, automatic doors with retractable footsteps among other features.

Every coach has a pantry facility to serve hot meals and, hot and cold beverages. The insulation is meant to keep heat and noise to very low levels for additional passenger comfort.

Besides the speed, Vande Bharat Express has an advanced array of features including energy-efficient coaches which leave less carbon footprint and braking system which can save up to 30 per cent of electrical energy. Every alternate coach is motorised to ensure even distribution of power in the train.

The train has driver coaches at both ends – like metro and local trains across the country.

The bookings for the train have begun and it will run commercially from 17 February from Delhi to Varanasi five days a week.