Indian Railway is the largest industry of India with ambitious plan to maximize the number of top speed trains on Indian tracks. Indian Railway uses both diesel and electric locomotives for freight services and passenger trains, the highest being the WAP-7 HS which is the upgrade version of WAP-7 normal. You will see passenger trains using any of the WAP versions of locomotive and also diesel engines. The average speed achieved by these locomotives range from 36mkph to 112kmph.
Recently, Indian Railway has also launched their top speed trains with the average speed between 70Kmph to 180kmph. Below is the list of fastest trains of India by Maximum Speed.
List Of Fastest Trains in India
| Trains | Speed |
| Vande Bharat Express or Train 18 | 180 km/h |
| Gatimaan Express | 160 km/h |
| Bhopal Shatabdi Express | 150 km/h |
| Mumbai Rajdhani Express | 130 km/h |
| Sealdah Duronto Express | 130 km/h |
| Lucknow Delhi Tejas Express | 130 km/h |
| Howrah Ranchi Shatabdi Express | 130 km/h |
| Bandra Nizamuddin Garib Rath Express | 130 km/h |
1) Vande Bharat Express or Train 18
Currently, Indian Railway is operating the semi-high speed train called Train 18 that achieves the maximum speed of 180 km/h, making it the only high speed train on the tracks of Indian Railway. However, Indian Railway has restricted its speed to 130 km/h officially. This semi-high speed train is likely to be replaced by other express trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi.
“IR is also planning to launch Train 19 which would be the successor of Train 18”
2) Gatimaan Express
The second fastest train in India by speed is Gatimaan Express which operates at the highest speed of 160 km/h and currently it holds the second position after Train 18. The train runs between Delhi and Jhasi and it is hauled by Wap-5 version of locomotive from Ghaziabad and the coached included in the train are all LHB coaches and it has both chair car AC and executive class.
3) Bhopal Shatabdi Express
The 3rd on the list of fastest train in India is the Bhopal Shatabdi Express which is one of the semi-high speed trains running between New Delhi and Bhopal. It has the operating top speed of 150 km/h, holding the 3rd position in the list. The train is fully air conditioned and it has high standard rail coaches.
Also Read: Creating New IRCTC Account And Booking Tickets
4) Mumbai Rajdhani Express
Mumbai Rajdhani Express runs between New Delhi and Mumbai and it operates at the top speed of 130 km/h, making it the semi-high speed train of Indian Railway. This is one of the super fast express train in Indian Railway which is fully air conditioned with sleeping facilities and meals are served throughout the journey.
5) Sealdah Duronto Express
After Rajdhani, the train which holds the position in the list of fastest train in India by speed is Sealdah Duronto Express which runs between Sealdah and New Delhi. It is the non-stop type of train in Indian Railway with very minimal stoppage between the journey and the top speed achieved by the train is 130 km/h, making it the most time efficient and fastest train on Grand Chord route between these two important cities.
6) Lucknow Delhi Tejas Express
Tejas Express is another smei-high speed fully AC train launched by Indian Railway and the coaches feature the modern onboard facilities with automatic doors and more. On 4th October 2019, Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express was introduced and it runs between Lucknow and New Delhi with the top speed of 130 km/h. It completes the journey in 6 hours approximately.
7) Howrah Ranchi Shatabdi Express
Howrah Ranchi Shatabdi Express is the next high speed train in India running the highest speed of 130 km/h. The train is hauled by the WAP-4 and WAP-7 locomotive designed in Howrah. The train returns back to its origin the same day by completing the to and fro travel between these two cities.
8) Bandra Nizamuddin Garib Rath Express
This is the part of the Garib Rath series of Indian Railway and it is amongst the top speed trains in India by speed. The train is hauled by Ghaziabad based Wap-5 and Wap-7 loco and it operates at the top speed of 130 km/h. The train is fully air conditioned with more seating capacity and berths and no free bedding and meals to the passengers available. The highest speed on which the train operates is 130 km/h, but the speed is currently restricted by Indian Railway to 82km/h.
So, these were some of the fastest and highest speed trains in India based on their operating speed. Stay tuned to know about the other top speed trains on Indian trains.
