Train 18 to run between Mumbai and Shirdi very soon

India’s all-new Train 18 is running successfully and wooing travellers across the country. Now, according to new reports, if all goes as planned, commuters can take Train 18 or the Vande Bharat Express from Mumbai to Shirdi. The train journey will take about 3 hours, and will cover a distance of 291 km.
Resembling the Shatabdi trains, the new Train 18 will take the route via Pune/Daund or via Manmad railway stations. The Central Railway zone at a meeting earlier this month had proposed that Train 18 should be leaving Mumbai early in the morning, and reach Shirdi within three hours. This means that passengers going to Shirdi from Mumbai would be able to return on the same day. Currently, trains take a total of 9 hours to go from Mumbai to Shirdi.


According to a Central Railway official, the rail route between Mumbai to Shirdi does not have much passenger traffic currently. The reason for this could be that trains, as of now, take up to nine hours. With Train 18, the time will reduce to 3 hours, and perhaps more passengers would be open to taking the train.
In May, the Railway Ministry had held a meeting in New Delhi to decide all the routes of Train 18. In that meeting, Western Railway had proposed to introduce Mumbai-New Delhi route for the Vande Bharat Express.

Currently, the train runs between New Delhi and Varanasi, and covers a distance of 758.8 km in 8 hours.