India’s fastest freight train just clocked 145 km/h in its first trial — here’s what it carries

Indian Railways has unveiled a new chapter in the Vande Bharat story — a 16-coach Vande Bharat platform-based Freight Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) that successfully completed the opening day of technical trials at Kota Division, reaching a top speed of 145 km/h.

The 16-coach prototype, developed by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, is being tested by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) along the Kota-Nagda-Sawai Madhopur high-speed corridor — one of Indian Railways' most advanced testing routes.

The rake departed Kota at 6 AM for Mahidpur Road on the first day. Initial trials ran at 120 km/h, followed by recorded runs at 135 km/h between Mahidpur Road and Bhawani Mandi. On the return journey, the freight EMU achieved 145 km/h — the highest speed recorded on opening day.

The prototype consists of two refrigerated DTC coaches, two non-driving trailer coaches and 12 parcel coaches. It has an axle load capacity exceeding 20 tonnes and a total payload capacity of more than 397 tonnes — with forced ventilation, pneumatic retractable roller flooring and modern braking systems.

Among the EMU's advanced features are refrigerated parcel storage, the KAVACH automatic train protection system and automatic door locking above 5 km/h. The train cannot be operated unless every door is securely closed — a critical safety feature for high-speed freight operations.

Designed specifically for high-speed cargo movement, the Vande Bharat Freight EMU is expected to transform e-commerce, express parcel delivery, cold-chain logistics and other time-sensitive freight operations — a sector where Indian Railways currently faces significant speed limitations.