India’s Vande Bharat Express reached 180 km/h during test trials. The train was initially known as Train 18, an indigenous electric multiple-unit design developed and built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.
During testing, the prototype ran on the Kota–Sawai Madhopur section in Rajasthan. Reaching 180 km/h made it India’s fastest electric multiple-unit train at the time, although the figure represented a trial speed rather than the normal speed of every Vande Bharat service.
A common mix-up is confusing maximum test speed with scheduled operating speed. Track conditions, signalling, curves, traffic and safety rules can limit commercial services to lower speeds; many routes operate below the train’s technical capability. The first Vande Bharat service began between New Delhi and Varanasi in February 2019.